Floods kill 18, displace 100,000 in east India | Inquirer News

Floods kill 18, displace 100,000 in east India

/ 05:22 PM September 12, 2011

BHUBANESWAR—Heavy flooding in eastern India has killed 18 people and displaced almost 100,000 over the past week, government and aid officials said Monday, warning of more wet weather to come.

The floods were triggered by torrential monsoon rains across Orissa state, causing water levels to rise and overflow river banks, sparking an operation that saw helicopters drop off emergency food packets to help the stranded.

“We are face-to-face with yet another bitter flood that has claimed 18 lives with another six people reported missing,” Orissa’s disaster management minister Surya Narayan Patra told AFP.

Article continues after this advertisement

He said the state government had evacuated tens of thousands of people from their waterlogged homes and was enacting relief measures to help a total of 1.7 million people affected by the floods.

FEATURED STORIES

Orissa’s special relief commissioner Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra told reporters that access to 877 villages was completely cut off due to rising water levels and that 11,000 houses had been damaged.

“The numbers of people affected have doubled in just a few weeks and there is more rain to come,” said John Roche, India’s country representative for the Red Cross.

Article continues after this advertisement

“Thousands have lost homes and livelihoods, leaving many wage-earners with no choice but to migrate to nearby towns to find work.”

Article continues after this advertisement

The strength of the annual June-September downpour is vital to hundreds of millions of Indian farmers and to economic growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, which gets 80 percent of its annual rainfall during the monsoon season.

Floods in neighboring Pakistan have killed 138 people in the last month and affected up to five million more.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

TAGS: floods, India

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.