Indian Flooding Causes Millions Homeless

[senorpepr]

More than two million people have been forced to abandon their homes in north-east India amid the worst floods for more than a decade in south Asia.

In Bangladesh, across the border, as many as three million people were believed to be marooned inside their flooded homes, unable to escape.

At least 241 people have been killed across the region since flooding began in June, and the death toll has risen sharply in the past few days after several rivers burst their banks. A third of Bangladesh is now affected
by the floods, and there are fears that if there is more rain, the waters could advance on the capital, Dhaka.
India's north-eastern states have been cut off from the rest of the country by land, after road and rail links were submerged. There have been flash floods in neighboring Nepal, where landslides have cut routes from the capital, Kathmandu, to other parts of the country.

In the Indian state of Assam, the chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, issued an SOS call to the central government for help as the massive Brahmaputra river burst its banks, calling for seven helicopters and at least 300 rubber dinghies to rescue people marooned by the floods.

Mr Gogoi said: "Nearly 11,000 houses across the state have been washed away, while an estimated 400,000 other homesteads have been damaged by the worst-ever floods in the area's history." On Friday, 350 children in the state had to be airlifted to safety by an Indian air force helicopter after their school was inundated by the waters. Millions are now sleeping rough in tents on dry stretches of roadway across Assam. Others around the region have taken to the roofs of their homes to escape the rising waters. As well as the danger of drowning, people are at risk from building collapses and water-borne diseases such as cholera. Other dangers include electrocution from power lines collapsing into the floods and the thousands of poisonous snakes trying to escape rising water levels.