DHAKA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The United Nations said the humanitarian crisis caused by last month's cyclone in Bangladesh was much worse than previously thought, with more than two million people in need of immediate life-saving assistance. "As more information becomes available, an even grimmer reality is being revealed," the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement released in Dhaka on Tuesday.
About 2.6 million Bangladeshis across nine districts needed emergency assistance, and the total number of people affected by the cyclone was around 8.5 million, 1.5 million more than initially thought, the statement said. Cyclone Sidr hit the impoverished South Asian country on Nov. 15 with winds of 250 kph (155 mph) and a 5-foot tidal surge.
The confirmed death toll has increased slightly to 3,268, the number of people considered missing is 872 and the number of injured has been revised upward by 5,000 to nearly 40,000.
Damage to property is also more severe than first reported. Nearly 564,000 homes have been completely destroyed, 200,000 more than initially estimated, the U.N. statement said. Another 885,280 houses have been damaged. The United Nations said livestock losses numbered at least 1.25 million, more than double an initial estimate, and the estimated area of cropland damaged had risen to 2 million acres (810,000 hectares).
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