Every year, the monsoon season, which usually begins in June and lasts until September, brings rains that are crucial for millions of farmers in India and other South Asian countries.
Scientists say rapid urbanization and the expansion of towns and cities along river banks and coastlines have also increased chances of flood-related fatalities.
On Monday, the Indian Meteorological Department predicted heavy rains in several parts of the country this week, including in northeastern states like Assam, where floods have already affected more than 2.4 million people and about 1,340 villages are under water.
“Most people died in landslides, floods and lightning,” said Anil Pokhrel, chief executive at Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, a government agency.
In Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, about a million people have been affected, and flash floods have turned streets into raging rivers.
In an indication of how quickly disaster can strike during flooding, two 8-year-old girls were lost last week in rising waters in Assam as they followed the grandmother of one in search of missing cattle.
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