Monsoon storms have killed at least 41 people in Bangladesh and India and have caused a devastating floods that left more than a million people stranded. officials revealed on Saturday.
Floods are a constant threat to millions of people in the lowlands of Bangladesh, but experts say climate change is becoming more frequent, rampant and unpredictable.
Over the past week, relentless heavy rains have hit many parts of northeast Bangladesh, and troops have been deployed to evacuate households cut off from neighboring communities.
The school was turned into a shelter to protect an entire village, which in a matter of hours was flooded by a river bursting from its banks.
A manwhose family lives in Companiganj village identified as Lokman said;
“The whole village went under water by early Friday and we all got stranded.
“After waiting a 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”.
A woman, Asma Akter, who was rescued from rising waters, said her family had not eaten for two days.
She said;
“The water rose so quickly we couldn’t bring any of our things,”
“And how can you cook anything when everything is underwater?”
Foreign Minister Konrad Sangma tweeted that at least 16 people have died in India’s remote Meghalaya, since Thursday as mudslides and river waters flooded roads.
In Assam State, more than 1.8 million people were affected by floods after five days of rain.
Assam Prime Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters that he had instructed local authorities to provide “all the help and assistance they need” to rescue flood victims.