Heavy monsoon rains and flooding have caused at least 25 deaths in several southern Indian states, while thousands of people have been evacuated, disaster management officials said on Monday (September 2). At least 16 people have been killed in Telangana state and nine in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in the past two days.
“Many houses were damaged”Y. Nagi Reddy, director general of Telangana’s fire and disaster relief service, told Agence France-Presse. Some 3,800 people have been rescued and evacuated in the state of more than 35 million people. The Indian Air Force said it had sent more than 200 rescue workers and 30 tonnes of emergency aid to the two states on Monday.
Every year, rainfall causes considerable damage in India, but climate change is altering weather patterns and increasing the number of extreme weather events, scientists say.
Last week, at least 28 people died in three days in the western state of Gujarat. The northeastern state of Tripura was also hit in August by floods and landslides that claimed more than 20 lives.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, floods killed at least 40 people during the same period and nearly 300,000 residents had to seek emergency shelter.
