Sunday, 17 Nov 2024

Acute Monsoon Flooding in Nepal and India Leaves Dozens Dead

At least 47 people have died in Nepal and 25 more in India, with hundreds of thousands of others displaced from their homes, after severe flooding driven by heavy monsoon rains battered South Asia, officials said on Sunday.

In Nepal, the areas affected worst by the deluge were in the west of the country, Bed Nidi Kfanal, the head of the country’s national emergency operation center, said in a phone interview on Sunday.

The number of dead could rise in the coming days, he said, adding that at least 29 people were missing and 28 others injured. The security forces have had to stage numerous rescues.

Every year, from June to September, monsoon season brings heavy rains that pummel South Asia, regularly provoking deadly flooding. July is often the wettest month.

Though floods are common in Nepal during the rains, the levels of inundation this year have been higher than usual. With the rainfall finally beginning to ease, Mr. Kfanal expressed hope that the flooding would recede. For now, the authorities were doing the best they could, he said.

Neighboring countries, particularly India but also Bangladesh and Myanmar, have also been affected.

Mohamad Farukh, the chief executive of Rapid Response, a nongovernmental charity focusing on disaster relief, said that at least 25 people had died so far in India, adding that this number could increase significantly in the coming days.

Around one million have been displaced from their homes, he said in a text message on Sunday.

“It’s in the beginning stage,” he said of the flooding, which he called more intense than normal. “It is getting worse day by day because of continuous rains and overflowing rivers,” he added.

“Once the water recedes, then they go back home,” he said. “It will take weeks, sometimes months in some areas.”

In India, the worst-affected areas where in the states of Assam and Bihar, in the northeast, according to government officials. Around 750 people from the two states have been rescued by the country’s disaster response unit, the government said in a news release on Saturday.

In Bangladesh, tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees living in makeshift camps after fleeing violence in Myanmar were left especially vulnerable to flooding. The International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, said the severe rains were the worst the camps had seen this year.

Thousands had been displaced and homes and infrastructure damaged, and the risk of waterborne illnesses was high, the agency said.

“The rain and wind are causing misery on the ground and our teams are working day and night to provide emergency services and relocations to affected people,” Manuel Pereira, the agency’s deputy chief of mission for Bangladesh, said in a statement.

This month, 32 people died in India after the heaviest monsoon rains in a decade struck Mumbai and nearby areas.

Follow Iliana Magra on Twitter: @Magraki.

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