AFP: “Nearly 200 people have died in floods and landslides in India and Nepal, officials said Thursday, with whole families buried in their homes and two young girls swept away as forecasters warned of yet more heavy rain. Experts say that they were victims of the ever-more unpredictable and extreme weather that has hit South Asia in recent years caused by climate change and exacerbated by deforestation, damming and excessive development.”
“Nepal recorded the sharpest rise in casualties, with officials saying that 88 people have died, among them a family of six including three children whose house was obliterated by a sudden avalanche of soil and debris. ‘All District Disaster Management Committees have been actively working for the rescue and relief operations. Under the committee, Nepal Police, Armed Force Police, Nepal Army and other agencies have been mobilised,’ emergencies official Dijan Bhattarai said. In the Himalayan northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, 55 people were confirmed Thursday to have died – five of whom were from a single family whose house was buried by a massive landslide. Many bridges and roads have been damaged and many towns have been cut off, and the army has been brought in to restore contact and reach thousands of people stranded.”