Over the last decade Bangladesh has witnessed several devastating floods. Despite this, cereal production has grown steadily, mainly as a result of the spread of irrigation and modern rice varieties. On the basis of data from, Madaripur Upazila, a small flood-prone community in southwest Bangladesh, the article discusses the relationship between floods and the spread of new agricultural technology. The floods in 1987 and 1988 led to excessive damage to traditional rain-fed rice crops and in order to avoid future damage of this kind the farmers shifted to a modern, irrigated rice crop. A basic argument of the article, therefore, is that natural disasters, here in the form of excessive flooding, can act as a triggering force behind a process of agricultural modernization. At the same time it is clear that the 1987 and 1988 floods alone cannot fully explain the changes observed in Madaripur. Public reforms concerning distribution of vital inputs such as irrigation equipment and fertilizers, as well as broader changes in rural-urban relationships have been important.