"Floods in Nepal, India isolate villages, kill 180 | Associated Press August 19, 2014
KATMANDU, Nepal — The death toll from three days of flooding and torrential rain in Nepal and India rose to more than 180 people Monday, as relief teams sent food, tents, and medicine to prevent outbreaks of disease.
The worst-hit areas were in western Nepal and northern India, where swirling floodwaters submerged hundreds of villages and swept away homes made of mud and straw.
Four helicopters with relief supplies and medical workers were sent to cut-off villages in western Nepal, said Jhanka Nath Dhakal of the National Emergency Operation Center. Most roads into the area are submerged or damaged by flooding, preventing vehicles from passing.
Thousands of people are without shelter in 10 flooded districts, and local officials on Monday distributed rice and lentils and cooking pots to people who lost their homes. The area is mainly farmland where the poor live in vulnerable mud and straw huts.
At least 100 people have died in Nepal and 84 in neighboring India since Thursday due to torrential rains, authorities said.
The situation in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh worsened after dams were opened in Nepal, said Alok Ranjan, a top official in Uttar Pradesh. Along with incessant rain, the rising waters caused several rivers to breach their banks, he said.
Officials in the state reported 10 more deaths overnight, pushing its toll to 34 over the past three days.
Also in northern India, at least 50 people have died in Uttarakhand state.
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Related:
"Floods, landslides take at least 54 lives
KATMANDU — Flooding and landslides in western Nepal have killed at least 54 people and left 142 missing amid continuous rainfall during the past three days, officials said Saturday. Ten districts have been flooded, with rescuers recovering 54 bodies, police official Kesh Bahadur Shahi said (AP)."
Time to grab a towel.
