Hunger and the risk of epidemics stalked the storm-ravaged Bangladesh coast as the official death toll from last week's cyclone crossed the 2,500 mark, local officials said.

With bodies emerging from the mud and stench, another 1,000 people were still missing as the government's disaster management officials said the death toll was likely to rise further.

Rescue teams had yet to reach several devastated zones. Some 3.3 million people have been affected by the cyclone, with 300,000 houses destroyed and twice as many severely damaged.

The armed forces, which were deployed soon after tidal waves receded, said they had covered almost 80 percent of the cyclone-hit landscape.

An army spokesman said they would intensify the distribution of emergency materials in badly-battered fishing regions.

The Bangladesh Red Crescent (Cross) feared the number of deaths from Cyclone Sidr could climb to 10,000.

Red Crescent volunteers struggled Monday to access remote villages cut off by the debris of smashed houses, uprooted trees and damaged bridges.

The armed forces have boosted ground efforts by civilians to bring aid to inaccessible villages exposing an unending scene of death and devastation in the process.

The chairman of the Bangladesh Red Cross Dr Abdur Rob said his organization had appealed to the headquarters in Geneva for emergency supplies of tents, blankets and water purifying tablets.

The Red Cross teams which have been assessing the immediate needs of the cyclone-battered families said 400 million Bangladesh Taka (around US$6 million) would be required initially to deal with the aftermath of the disaster.

Oxfam International, a group of non-governmental organizations, meanwhile said there were still villages rescue workers had not been able to access, with tens of thousands of people in the affected areas urgently needing food and shelter.

According to estimates, the cyclone destroyed between 50 and 95 percent of the harvest in the southern coastal region. This would have "immediate and long-term catastrophic effects on the country", Oxfam said.

Bangladesh already lost some of its harvest during monsoon flooding in July.

According to the government, Sidr destroyed harvests on 30,000 hectares of arable land while partially destroying 850,000 hectares. Some 250,000 livestock and poultry were also killed in the cyclone.

Nearly 1,000 schools and other educational institutions as well as numerous kilometres of roads were destroyed or damaged. Metre-high waves broke dams along a 57-km stretch.

Several groups like the Greater Vancouver Bangladesh Cultural Association, the Cultural Probash Bangla and the Bangladesh Engineers Association are raising funds for the victims.

Hasan Mamun of the Greater Vancouver Bangladesh Cultural Associations told The South Asian Post that the association is currently communicating with members of other Bangladeshi community associations all over Greater Vancouver to help in the fund-raising drive. The association is also using television, print and radio media as well as websites to inform Bangladesh nationals living in Vancouver about the on-going aid projects.

"We are accepting donations in cash or in kind and whatever other form of assistance that could help the cyclone victims in Bangladesh," Mamun said.

The association is also planning to hold an "emergency meeting" this week to streamline the aid efforts.

The head of Oxfam in Bangladesh, Heather Blackwell, said there were many villages in remote areas and on islands and sandbanks that had yet to be reached. Oxfam did not know yet what losses had been suffered in these areas. It could be weeks before they knew exactly how bad the cyclone had been, she said.

Blackwell also said the government and aid organizations had much improved their precautionary measures since the last devastating cyclone hit Bangladesh in 1991. This could be seen from the much lower number of victims, she said.

The 1991 disaster killed nearly 140,000 people.

Cyclone Sidr packing winds of hurricane strength pummelled the swampy coastline early Friday leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Winds reaching speeds of 250 km per hour struck down sprawling old trees and coconut orchards, said Samarendru Karmakar, director of the national weather office.

The government has set up some 3,000 makeshift medical centres to fight waterborne diseases among the survivors.

The disruption of the national grid has plunged the country into darkness hitting factories and transport.

Bangladesh, among the world’s poorest countries, has been repeatedly hit by cyclones.

In 1970, some 500,000 people died in the region’s worst cyclone so far. World Vision appeals for $2 million for Bangladesh response. Meanwhile, World Vision Canada is appealing for more than C$2 million to provide an aid package that includes temporary shelter for 50,000 people whose homes were destroyed by Cyclone Sidr.

Of the total, $1.5 million will go to provide tin sheeting for 9,375 families, or 50,000 individuals, who lost their homes. The additional $632,000 will provide emergency food and relief items to some 100,000 people.

"The scale of the devastation is enormous. It is very hard to get to some areas due to fallen trees. There is need wherever we look," said Vince Edwards, World Vision’s national director in Bangladesh.

World Vision has already distributed initial emergency food - two kilograms of rice and one kilogram of sugar or molasses per family to over 2,400 families. More than 800 World Vision staff and volunteers are currently involved in the response, many providing first aid for those injured by flying debris and falling homes.

Rika Halder, 11, lost her home in Kandi, Kotalipara, when it was smashed by high winds from the cyclone. Halder and her family survived, but their simple home made of bamboo and mud was flung into a nearby marshland.

"Our house was taken away like a toy," Halder told a World Vision relief worker. "We found it... but without a roof or wall. My father and mother started screaming, as we were, too. What we need most is food and a place to live.

It is hard to live under open sky." World Vision is accepting donations to assist those affected by the cyclone. Those wishing to help can visit WorldVision.ca or call 1-800-268-5528.