This year's rainy summer monsoon season has begun earlier than usual causing extensive flooding in several south and southeast Asian countries. Hundreds of lives have been claimed by floods and landslides from the high mountain kingdoms of Bhutan and Nepal to the lowlands of Cambodia and Bangladesh. High in the eastern Himalayas, unusually heavy rains have caused landslides and floods in south Bhutan, along the border with India. The disaster is the worst in recorded history in the Kingdom of Bhutan, a country of 1.9 million people living on about the same area of land as Switzerland. The breakdown of Bhutan's water supply has become the most serious problem caused by the floods.
Numerous roads remain blocked due to landslides and erosion.
Many trucks, buses and other vehicles were submerged and the main water supply in the affected area was cut off when water pipes burst. More than a thousand people have been left homeless and are in temporary shelters. In the Himalayan country of Nepal, the Ministry of Home Affairs says floods and landslides have hit most districts in the country. In response to the disaster, the Nepalese government has been distributing of relief materials and cash to build shelters in safe areas. The government is helping people relocate temporarily.