Floods in south Asia kill 1400 people as Tropical Storm Harvey displaces 1 million, kills 44
Search and rescue works in progress after a five storey building collapsed in Mumbai, India. Photo: Getty
As the United States braves Tropical Storm Harvey, devastating monsoon floods and landslides in south Asia have affected more than 40 million people and killed 1200 people.
The United Nations estimates that at least 41million people have been affected in India, Bangladesh and Nepal with cities left underwater as the storm moves on to Pakistan.
Wide scale flooding has stretched across the Himalayan foothills causing landslides and washed away tens of thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland.
In Bangladesh alone, the UN estimates more than 697,000 homes have been destroyed with authorities reporting at least 106,000 people are living in emergency shelters as a result of the flood.
Oxfam staff in Bangladesh have reported two-thirds of the country has been under water in some areas, calling the flooding the worst the region has seen since 1988.
“Together, we can overcome any ordeal,” Mumbai Police tweeted.
“Thank you all for showing what humanity is in the face of adversity!”
Meanwhile in the United States, the death toll from last week’s Hurricane Harvey has risen to 44 people with families across Texas returning to their homes on Friday (US time) to begin the clean-up effort.
The storm has displaced more than 1 million people and knocked out drinking water supply in Beaumont, a city of 120,000 people according to Sky News.
Back in Mumbai, two toddlers were among 14 of the latest deaths as heavy rain destroyed homes and disrupted traffic in India’s financial capital.
Several villages in the east Indian state of Bihar are still inundated, with people living in makeshift shelters for days amid widespread heavy damage to farmland.
The deluge in Mumbai — nearly a month’s average rainfall in a single day — halted train services and led to flight cancellations.
A multi-storey residential building collapse in the city has risen to 33 people dead and dozens injured.
Forecasts of more heavy rains forced the Government to order schools and colleges to shut.
What we know: Tropical Storm Harvey
- 1 million displaced, 44 dead
- More than 250 shelters housing some 32,000 people.
- 14,000 National Guard mobilised, 21,000 federal workers mobilised
- Federal disaster declarations in 33 Texas counties and five Louisiana parishes.
- In Texas: 779,000 mandatory evacuations; 980,000 voluntary evacuations
- In Louisiana: 7000 mandatory evacuations; 133,000 voluntary evacuations
- Estimates of 911 calls coming in were as high as 900 per hour at one point
- 440,000 Texans have registered for FEMA assistance
- economic cost to region in excess of $75 billion
What we know: South Asia floods
- 45 million displaced, 1400 dead
- In India: building collapse claims 33 lives, 15 injured, dozens still buried
- In Nepal: 150 people dead, 65,000 homes damaged and 64,000 hectares of crops destroyed, 81,000 people affected
- In Pakistan: 15 people confirmed dead in Karachi, commercial and industrial activities paralysed across the country
- In Bangladesh: 140 people have died and over 697,000 houses have been damaged or destroyed, according to the International Red Cross
- 1800 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers currently on the ground
- An estimated 12,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed in India, 4,000 in Bangladesh and 2,000 in Nepal, according to Save The Children. As a result, more than one million children are missing school in India, 300,000 in Bangladesh and 500,000 in Nepal.
—with AAP/ABC