NEW DELHI (AFP) – Intense monsoon rains and floods in India’s southern states have killed at least 25 people, with thousands rescued and taken to relief camps, disaster officials said yesterday.
At least 16 people have been killed in Telangana state, and nine in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in the past two days.
“Lots of houses have been damaged as well,” Director General of Telangana’s disaster response and fire service Y Nagi Reddy told AFP, noting there had 400 millimetres of rainfall within the past 24 hours.
Around 3,800 people have been rescued in Telangana and moved to relief camps.
India’s air force said yesterday it had flown in more than 200 rescue officers and 30 tonnes of emergency aid to both states.
Rains cause widespread destruction every year, but experts say climate change is shifting weather patterns and increasing the number of extreme weather events. Last week, at least 28 people were killed over three days in the western state of Gujarat.
The northeastern state of Tripura was also hit by floods and landslides in August, with more than 20 people killed.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, downriver from India, floods killed at least 40 people over the same period, with nearly 300,000 residents taking refuge in emergency shelters.
