Nearly four million people in India’s northeastern state of Assam and neighbouring Nepal have been displaced by heavy flooding from monsoon rains, with dozens missing as deaths rose to at least 189, government officials said on Sunday.
The overflowing Brahmaputra River, which flows through China’s Tibet, India and Bangladesh, has damaged crops and triggered mudslides, displacing millions of people, officials said.
More than 2.75 million people in Assam have been displaced by three waves of floods since late May that has claimed 79 lives after two more deaths were reported overnight, a state government official said.
“The flood situation remains critical with most of the rivers flowing menacingly above the danger mark,” Assam water resources Minister Keshab Mahanta told Reuters.
In neighbouring Nepal, the government asked residents along its southern plains on Sunday to remain alert as heavy monsoon rains were expected to pound the Himalayan nation where more than 100 have died in floods and landslides since June, officials said.
Some 110 people were killed and another 100 injured as landslides and flash floods washed or swept away homes, upended roads and bridges and displaced hundreds of others in 26 of the country’s 77 districts, police said.
China has raised the flood alert level on a river in the east of the country after days of heavy rainfall.
Officials have moved the alert warning on the Huai river from Level III to Level II, the second-highest tier, amid fears of further torrential downpours.
Heavy rains have swept across China for weeks, from the southwest to the east coast.
At least 14 people have reportedly died in the south of the country due to the flooding.
Millions have been evacuated and thousands of troops have been deployed across the country to help shore up defences.
"Floods are occurring at the same time at the Yangtze River, Huai River and Tai Lake...The flood prevention situation is very severe," the water resources ministry reportedly said.
The 1,100km (683 mile) Huai river passes through the provinces of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu and several major cities, including Fuyang, Xinyang and Huainan.
Officials said 10 reservoirs on the Huai had seen water levels rise by up to 6.85m (22ft).
China typically endures flooding in the rainy summer months, but there are concerns the downpours this year could disrupt global supplies needed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic - including personal protective equipment (PPE).
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