At least 41 citizens died as floods devasted north-eastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of people stranded, authorities announced on Saturday.
In India’s Assam state, at least nine people died in the floods and 2 million homes were submerged in the flood waters, according to the state disaster management agency.
Police officials stated that lightning strikes triggered by the storms had killed at least 21 people in Bangladesh since Friday afternoon. Another four people were killed when landslides hit their hillside homes in the port city of Chittagong, police inspector Nurul Islam said.
“We expect moderate to heavy rainfall in several parts of Assam till Sunday,” said Sanjay O’Neil, an official at the meteorological station in Gauhati, Assam’s capital. “The volume of rainfall has been unprecedented.”
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India’s army has been asked to help other disaster response agencies rescue stranded people and provide food and essentials to those whose houses are submerged under flood waters.
“We are using speedboats and inflatable rafts to rescue flood-hit people,” an army official said.
Reports revealed that in Bangladesh, districts near the Indian border have been worst affected.
Accordingly, schools have been turned into relief shelters to house entire villages inundated in a matter of hours by rivers that suddenly burst their banks.
“The whole village went underwater by early Friday and we all got stranded,” said Lokman, 23, whose family lives in Companyganj village.
“After waiting whole day on the roof of our home, a neighbour rescued us with a makeshift boat. My mother said she has never seen such floods in her entire life.”
Asma Akter, another woman rescued from the rising waters, said her family had not been able to eat for two days.
“The water rose so quickly we couldn’t bring any of our things,” she said. “And how can you cook anything when everything is underwater?”
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