170 dead in South Asia storms, 375,000 homeless

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Perilous Times and Global Warming

170 dead in South Asia storms, 375,000 homeless*

23 Sep 2006 09:00:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

DHAKA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Storms in eastern India and Bangladesh have
killed more than 170 people and left around 375,000 homeless over the
past four days, officials said on Saturday.

The storms, caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal late on Tuesday,
have brought heavy rains and strong winds to the region, destroying
fishing boats, crops and homes.

Most of the deaths occurred in Bangladesh where rescuers have recovered
nearly 100 bodies of fishermen whose boats were caught up in the rough seas.

"So far nearly 100 bodies have been retrieved from the sea at half a
dozen spots," said an official in the badly hit coastal district of Barguna.

Authorities say that while many boats have managed to return to shore,
the navy and coastguard are still looking for hundreds of fishermen who
remain unaccounted for.

Surviving fishermen said they had been caught off guard as weather
authorities had failed to warn them of the impending storm. Dhaka's
weather office denied this, saying an alert was issued well in advance.

The storm also left around 10,000 people in coastal areas homeless, and
flash floods inundated crop fields.

In the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, the incessant rains and
flooding have killed around 30 people, and forced 350,000 living mainly
in coastal areas from their homes.

"People have been killed mostly from houses collapsing, lightning, trees
landing on them," said Mriganka Biswas from the state's relief department.

"Victims are now living under tarpaulin sheets provided by the
government," he said, adding that around 70,000 homes had been destroyed
in the state.

In West Bengal's capital, Kolkata, police used boats on Friday to rescue
hundreds of families stranded in low-lying slums.

"The situation will be very grave in Kolkata if rain continues," said
Sourav Chakraborty, a police officer involved in the rescue operations.

The storms also killed more than 40 people and left nearly 15,000
homeless in Andhra Pradesh state on India's east coast. (Additional
reporting by S. Radha Kumar in HYDERABAD; Manas Banerjee in MALDA)