144 dead as India's wild rains sweeps westward
Pastor Dale Morgan
144 dead as India's wild rains sweeps westward*
HYDERABAD, India, June 24 (AFP) Jun 24, 2007
Monsoon rains pummeled western India Sunday after easing in southern
states where 144 people have died in three days of heavy downfalls and
flash floods.
The southern state of Andhra Pradesh was among the worst hit with 38
dead from rainfall which tapered off Sunday.
Incessant downpours since Thursday night dumped almost 200 millimetres
(eight inches) on low-lying areas in three districts of the coastal
state, causing rivers and streams to flood.
But with the rain easing slightly officials are hoping more than 100,000
people evacuated from low-lying areas to 95 relief camps can return home
from Monday as water levels recede.
"By tomorrow the situation should be absolutely normal," state disaster
management commissioner Preeti Sudan told AFP Sunday.
"We are trying (to ensure) that (evacuees) return by tomorrow evening or
by the day after tomorrow."
State officials said the flooding had disrupted road, rail and air
traffic, and caused power and telecom failures.
In coastal Kerala state, 52 people died in the past four days, the Press
Trust of India reported. In neighbouring Karnataka, the death toll stood
at 39.
In western Maharashtra state, 15 people died in house collapses from
powerful storms and lightning strikes, PTI reported, with the heavy rain
continuing into Sunday.
Mumbai, Maharashtra's capital and the country's financial hub, received
almost 300 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours up to Sunday morning,
causing flooding and traffic jams and raising fears of a repeat of
deadly floods two years ago.
More than 400 people died in Mumbai in 2005 as silted drains were unable
to handle a surprise deluge of monsoon rains that flooded the seaside city.
The monsoon season, which runs from June to September, accounts for
about 80 percent of India's annual rainfall, vital for a farm economy
which lacks adequate irrigation facilities.
However, the flooding also causes hundreds of deaths and damage to
infrastructure, homes and farms across India.
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