Flood levels reach record highs in South Asia with more than 400 dead and hundreds injured and missing.

More than 16 million people have been affected by monsoon flooding across the South Asian countries of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh - putting huge numbers at risk of disease, hunger, and death.

One-third of Bangladesh and Nepal have been flooded, said Martin Faller, deputy regional director for Asia Pacific at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

"This is fast becoming one of the most serious humanitarian crises this region has seen in many years and urgent action is needed to meet the growing needs of millions of people affected by these devastating floods," Faller said.

"Millions of people across Nepal, Bangladesh, and India face severe food shortages and disease caused by polluted flood waters," he added.

According to officials, more than 400 people have died in the three countries over the last seven days, with India accounting for 239 fatalities, 128 dying in Nepal, and 39 in Bangladesh.

Flood levels had already reached record highs in Bangladesh. Flooding of major rivers such as the Jamuna surpassed levels from 1988, the year of the deadliest floods the country has ever faced, the humanitarian agency said.

READ MORE: Floods kill more than 300, fears rise for 600 missing

"More than one-third of Bangladesh and Nepal have been flooded and we fear the humanitarian crisis will get worse in the days and weeks ahead," Faller said.

Aid group Save the Children director Mark Pierce said the situation is "extremely desperate".

"The sheer volume of water is also making it really difficult to access some of the communities most in need," he said in a statement.

In Nepal, many areas remain cut off after the most destructive floods and landslides in recent times on August 11-12. Villagers and communities are without food, water, and electricity.

In India, 168 deaths were reported in Bihar and Assam states, the worst-hit by the floods. Officials said the situation remains grim with the weather bureau forecasting more heavy rain in the region over the coming days.

In a makeshift relief camp in India's Kaliabor, 160km east of Guwahati city, families said they had not received any aid.

"We are practically starving with no government supplies reaching us," said Arunima Dutta, a mother of three, who is sheltering from the disaster with hundreds of others. </s> In this Friday, July 12, 2019 photo, Indian villagers cross floodwaters on country boats in Ashighar village, Morigaon district, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. Rain-triggered floods and mudslides have left a trail of destruction across northeastern India, killing at least a dozen people and affecting over a million, officials said Saturday. (AP Photo)

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have killed at least 50 people in Nepal in the past few days, with more deaths reported across the border in India and Bangladesh, officials said Sunday.

At least 30 other people were missing in Nepal, either swept away by swollen rivers or buried by mudslides since monsoon rains began pounding the region on Friday, Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Center said.

The center said nine key highways remained blocked by floods and mudslides, and attempts were underway to open them up for traffic. Among them is the East-West Highway, which connects Nepal’s southern districts.

Other roads were being cleared by thousands of police and soldiers. Continuing bad weather has grounded helicopter rescue flights. Workers were also repairing fallen communication towers to restore phone lines.

Thirty people have been treated for injuries and more than 1,100 others rescued from flooded areas. More than 10,000 are estimated to have been displaced.

Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology warned of more troubles ahead for the southern region near the main rivers, urging people to keep watch on rising water levels and move to higher ground when needed.

Rain-triggered floods, mudslides and lightning have left a trail of destruction in other parts of South Asia.

In Bangladesh, at least a dozen people, mostly farmers in rural areas, have been killed by lightning since Saturday as monsoon rains continue to batter parts of the low-lying country, according to officials and news reports.

Water Development Board official Rabiul Islam said about 40,000 people have been affected, mostly due to their homes being submerged underwater.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 160 million people with more than 130 rivers, is prone to monsoon floods because of overflowing rivers and the heavy onrush of water from upstream India.

Officials in northeastern India said at least 14 people were killed and over a million affected by flooding, state official Kumar Sanjay Krishna said. Six deaths were reported in neighboring Arunachal state.

Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, home to the endangered one-horn rhinoceros, has been flooded.

Floods and mudslides have also hit some other northeast Indian states, including Meghalaya, Sikkim and Mizoram. In Mizoram, floods have submerged about 400 homes in the small town of Tlabung, police said.

Associated Press writer Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Wasbir Hussain in Gauhati, India, contributed to this report. </s> Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have killed at least 50 people in Nepal in the past few days, with more deaths reported across the border in India and Bangladesh.

Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have killed at least 50 people in Nepal in the past few days, with more deaths reported across the border in India and Bangladesh.

At least 30 other people were missing in Nepal, either swept away by swollen rivers or buried by mudslides since monsoon rains began pounding the region on Friday, Nepal’s National Emergency Operation Centre said.

It said nine key roads remained blocked by floods and mudslides, and attempts were under way to open them up for traffic.

Among them is the East-West Highway, which connects Nepal’s southern districts.

Other roads were being cleared by thousands of police and soldiers.

Workers were also repairing fallen communication towers to restore phone lines.

Thirty people have been treated for injuries and more than 1,100 others rescued from flooded areas.

More than 10,000 are estimated to have been displaced.

Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology warned of more troubles ahead for the southern region near the main rivers, urging people to keep watch on rising water levels and move to higher ground when needed.

Rain-triggered floods, mudslides and lightning have left a trail of destruction in other parts of South Asia.

In Bangladesh, at least a dozen people, mostly farmers in rural areas, have been killed by lightning since Saturday as monsoon rains continue to batter parts of the low-lying country, according to officials and news reports.

Water Development Board official Rabiul Islam said about 40,000 people have been affected, mostly due to their homes being submerged under water.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation of 160 million people with more than 130 rivers, is prone to monsoon floods because of overflowing rivers and the heavy onrush of water from upstream India.

Officials in north-eastern India said at least 14 people were killed and more than a million affected by flooding.

Six deaths were reported in neighbouring Arunachal state.

Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, home to the endangered one-horn rhinoceros, has been flooded.

Floods and mudslides have also hit some other north east Indian states, including Meghalaya, Sikkim and Mizoram.

In Mizoram, floods have submerged about 400 homes in the small town of Tlabung, police said. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Floods cause death and destruction in north India

More than three million people have been displaced across north and north-eastern India amid monsoon rain that has cost lives and destroyed homes.

Storms and floods have ripped through areas of Nepal, Bangladesh and India, killing more than 130 people.

At least 67 people lost their lives in Nepal in torrential rains, police there said on Monday.

Thirty people were reported missing while 38 were injured, Nepalese police added.

Heavy rains also caused deaths in Bangladesh, including in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps. More bad weather is expected in the coming days.

The Brahmaputra River, which flows through India, Bangladesh and China, burst its banks, swamping more than 1,800 villages in India's north-east Assam state, Reuters reported on Monday.

Almost 2 million have been displaced in the northern Indian state of Bihar due to rising flood waters, the government said. More than 1.7 million people in Assam fled their homes.

At least 29 people died in Bangladesh in the past week, including 18 hit by lightning and seven who drowned when their boat sank in the Bay of Bengal.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption A man carries his belongings towards dry ground in Kathmandu

Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh - where more than a million Rohingya refugees are encamped after fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar - has been hit by at least 58.5cm (23 inches) of rain this month, according to the country's meteorological department on Sunday.

Hundreds of landslides since April have killed at least 10 people in the camps, including two Rohingya children in the past week.

The monsoon season lasts from June to September and wreaks havoc across South Asia every year. More than 1,200 people died in the region amid storms and landslides last year, when India's Kerala faced its worst floods in nearly a century. </s> • None Monsoon rains have triggered widespread flooding and landslides across three countries
• None Over two million people have been displaced as a result of the floods
• None Nepal has recorded the most fatalities, with 55 people confirmed dead

Millions of people have been displaced across India, Nepal and Bangladesh after monsoon rains triggered flash floods and landslides over the past week.

India's north-eastern state of Assam has been hit hard by the floods brought by the monsoon, with at least 1.5 million people displaced and 10 dead.

In the Chittagong division of Bangladesh, there have been 10 deaths and about 500,000 displaced as 200 villages have been flooded.

The disaster's death toll has been highest in Nepal, which recorded 55 fatalities on Sunday, with 30 missing and 33 injured, the Government said.

Ten thousand people have been displaced from their homes as incessant monsoon rains pounded many areas in the country since Thursday, submerging large swathes of land, inundating homes and destroying bridges and roads across the country.

Nepalese cabinet spokesman Gokul Banskota said, "the disaster has caused a big loss to the economy".

The Government will make an assessment soon, he added.

Nepal Red Cross spokesman Dibya Raj Poudel said the displaced had been sheltered in schools and other public buildings.

Television channels showed roofs of houses submerged in floodwaters in the southern plains and people wading through chest-deep water with their belongings on their heads.

Nepalese officials said in some areas rains had eased but some rivers in the eastern part of the country were still above flood level. Authorities asked residents to remain alert.

The Kosi River, which flows into the eastern Indian state of Bihar, was among those that had risen above the flood level.

Nepal police official Ishwari Dahal said all 56 gates of the Kosi barrage on the Nepal-India border had been opened last night for six hours to drain out 371,000 cusecs of water, the highest accumulation in 15 years.

A cusec is a measurement of flow, equivalent to one cubic foot per second.

"Its water level has gone down now," Mr Dahal said from the barrage site in south-east Nepal.

The Kosi has been a serious concern for both India and Nepal since it broke its banks in 2008 and changed course, submerging swathes of land and affecting more than 2 million people in India's Bihar state.

About 500 people died in that disaster. </s> The death toll from floods and landslides caused by two weeks of torrential monsoons in South Asia has reached 85, officials and news sources reported on Sunday. In Nepal alone, up to 50 people were said to have died in floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains across the country, while dozens more were missing.

Nepal's weather department issued a high alert for the southern Koshi River and sent SMS warnings to people in the area. "Our first priority is lifesaving rescue," Nepalese Home Ministry official Umakanta Adhikari told the AFP news agency, "and all our resources have been deployed."

In Bangladesh, at least 16 people have been killed in lightning strikes, flooding and landslides. The country's weather agency warned of further landslides and urged locals to move to safe locations.

Police used boats to bring people to safety as rivers swelled, inundating their settlements, while parents carrying children on their shoulders waded across chest-high waters. About 8,000 people rendered homeless by the floods have taken refuge in 68 government-run relief camps.

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The monsoon season, which lasts from June to September, causes widespread death and destruction across South Asia each year. Last year, more than 1,200 people died across the region in monsoon storms.

Aid groups have distributed rations to Rohingya refugees in southeastern Bangladesh. On Friday, the UN World Food Programme reported that two people, including a child, had died there.

In India, disaster teams worked to rescue residents from 1,556 inundated villages across 21 of the 33 districts in the northeastern state of Assam, while agencies provided food and medical supplies to flood victims. The waters in Assam's Brahmaputra River and its tributaries have continued to rise, inundating new areas in recent days.

Read more: Mumbai wall collapses onto shanties during monsoon

"The flood situation is serious," an official at the state disaster management control room told news agencies on Saturday. "A total of 869,024 people have been affected, including being displaced, stranded in their homes, or having suffered damages to their crops, land and livelihood." The official added: "While five people died washed away by floods, one was killed in a landslide. All the deaths were reported since Wednesday."

The weather office predicts that heavy rains will continue to lash the region for days.

Every evening, DW sends out a selection of the day's news and features. Sign up here. </s> More than 550 people have been killed in flooding caused by heavy rains across northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Annual monsoon rains have triggered landslides and caused homes to collapse, and with many more people dying due to drowning, the death toll stands at 578.

Almost 16 million people are thought to have been affected by the flooding, with army soldiers and disaster management workers across the three countries launching mammoth rescue efforts to evacuate and provide food and shelter to those caught up in the disaster.

Soldiers have been forced to use motorboats to rescue people marooned on their rooftops, while air force helicopters dropped packages of food and drinking water to those trapped in their homes. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption About 11 million people in India have been hit by flooding

More than 16 million people have now been affected by seasonal flooding across a swathe of South Asia, say aid officials.

The floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India are thought to have killed about 500 people and are expected to worsen.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says it is becoming one of the worst regional humanitarian crises in years.

There are growing concerns about food shortages and disease.

Image copyright EPA Image caption These woman were seeking shelter and aid after fleeing flooding in Bangladesh

Martin Faller, IFRC's deputy regional director, said more than a third of Bangladesh and Nepal were flooded, while about 11 million people across four northern Indian states were also affected.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced.

"This is fast becoming one of the most serious humanitarian crises this region has seen in many years, and urgent action is needed to meet the growing needs of millions of people affected by these devastating floods," Mr Faller said in a statement.

"Millions of people across Nepal, Bangladesh and India face severe food shortages and disease caused by polluted flood waters."

Image copyright AFP Image caption Damage to farming land in Nepal is likely to lead to longer term food shortages

Bangladesh, where flood levels are already at a record high, is expected to be further hit as swollen Indian rivers flow down through it in the coming days.

Save the Children Director Mark Pierce said the situation there was "extremely desperate".

"The sheer volume of water is also making it really difficult to access some of the communities most in need."

Nepal's Red Cross Society said food crops there had been wiped out, as floods hit major farming and agricultural land in the south.

"We fear that this destruction will lead to severe food shortages," said Secretary General Dev Ratna Dhakhwa.

Further heavy rain has been forecast across the region in the coming days, worsening the flooding and making it harder to reach those affected.

Save The Children's India manager, Murali Kunduru, told Reuters that while the monsoon rains come annually, "this year is particularly severe". </s> Geneva, Aug 18 (IANS) A humanitarian crisis is unfolding across large areas in South Asia, with more than 16 million people affected by floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Friday.

According to the agency, flood levels have already reached record highs in Bangladesh, and water of major rivers such as Jamuna has surpassed warning levels set in 1988, the deadliest flood in the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This is fast becoming one of the most serious humanitarian crises this region has seen in many years and urgent action is needed to meet the growing needs of millions of people affected by these floods," an IFRC statement said, citing its staff for Asia Pacific region.

According to the statement, more than one-third of Bangladesh and Nepal have been flooded, and the humanitarian crisis could get worse in the days and weeks ahead.

Many areas in Nepal remain cut off after the floods and landslides, and many villages and communities are stranded without food, water and electricity, it said.

"This tragic flooding in Nepal has claimed at least 128 lives and 33 people are still missing," Dev Ratna Dhakhwa, Secretary General of the Nepal Red Cross Society, said.

The IFRC said over 3.9 million people were affected by the rising waters, and the situation was likely to get worse as swollen rivers from India poured into the low-lying and densely populated areas in Bangladesh.

According to the agency, over 11 million people have been affected by floods in four states across northern India.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains in the region in the coming days.
Flooding in South Asia has displaced tens of thousands of people and resulted in an estimated 500 deaths across India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.