United News of Bangladesh

The death toll from devastating flash floods along the Nepal-China border has risen to 676, while nearly 3,000 people remain missing as rescue teams continue searching for survivors and evacuating people from the worst-hit areas. Nepal’s disaster agency reported 669 deaths and 2,426 people missing in the country, while China has reported seven deaths and 554 people missing. In Nuwakot, one of Nepal’s worst-affected districts, helicopters resumed rescue operations Saturday after bad weather temporarily disrupted aerial efforts. Some helicopters carried relief supplies, including clothes, instant noodles, crackers and rice, to flood-hit communities, while others brought survivors to safety. At relief centres, soldiers helped elderly people and carried babies who had been evacuated from the nearby community of Trishuli. Medical workers examined the survivors after their arrival. While some residents were leaving Trishuli, others returned to their devastated homes to search for belongings they might be able to salvage. One boy was seen carrying muddy sandals from his home, while resident Shoba Shretha returned to look for her dog, Sweetie, which she had been forced to leave behind when the flooding began. In Kathmandu, relatives gathered outside the main government hospital, desperately searching for information about loved ones who remain missing. Families moved between help desks and hospital notice boards, checking lists of injured people and putting up posters with photographs and contact numbers of missing relatives. Officials also displayed photographs of unidentified bodies in the hope that families or friends could recognize them. Gajendra Rawat, a security official at the hospital help desk, said around 1,600 missing people had been registered there since the disaster. “People are coming from all parts of Nepal,” he said. At a relief centre in Nuwakot, military personnel posted lists of missing people on walls as families gathered to search for their relatives. Rajesh Kumar Ram, who was looking for his son, said he remained hopeful that he might still be found alive. “I’m hopeful, by chance, that my son is somewhere,” he said through tears. “Maybe they find him stuck somewhere. I’m waiting for that moment only.” As the search continued, more people gathered at an army barracks seeking information about missing family members. Priti Kharel was among them, holding a poster of her brother Milan Kharel, an engineering geologist working for Doosan Enerbility. His family has not heard from him since the floods. Kharel said she believed her brother could be among those trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower construction site, where rescuers have already recovered some survivors. “We want the government to rescue him as soon as possible,” she said. Search and rescue operations continued at several locations in Nepal and China’s Tibet, including the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district and the badly damaged Gyirong border crossing. Nepali Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said rescuers would continue operations at the hydropower project, where more than 100 people are believed to be trapped inside a tunnel filled with thick mud. Rescuers have used ropes and baskets to reach some people, but the operation remains difficult because the tunnel is covered by up to 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 metres) of mud and there are few suitable locations for helicopters to land. Rescue teams have also been placed on alert over the possibility of another flood from a newly formed lake high in the Himalayas. The lake was created after a glacier collapse triggered Wednesday’s floods. Chinese monitoring data showed the lake had shrunk by late Friday, with its water level falling about 10 metres (32 feet) from its peak on Thursday morning, according to state broadcaster CCTV. On the Chinese side, rescuers reached the devastated Gyirong Port on Saturday by foot and raft, while some were lowered into the area from drones. It remained unclear how many people were inside the border checkpoint building when the floods struck. Nepal has so far rescued more than 3,700 people. Hundreds of those still missing are foreigners who were in the region for work, trekking or pilgrimage. Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said the government had mobilised all available resources, with international support, for search, rescue, relief and recovery operations, particularly to locate those still missing. “This is currently our national priority,” he told reporters Saturday. He said rescue operations were particularly challenging because of the region’s steep mountains and narrow gorges. Khanal said Nepal had requested specialised assistance from neighbouring countries for tunnel rescue, survivor-detection technology, rapid forensic and DNA analysis and morgue refrigeration facilities. An 11-member tunnel rescue reconnaissance team from India has already been deployed, while a similar team from China is expected to arrive soon, he said. Nepal has received more than 57 metric tons of relief supplies from India, with additional assistance coming from China, Japan, Australia and other countries, according to the minister. Despite severe flood damage in four districts, Khanal said the rest of Nepal remained open and accessible to visitors. “We welcome foreign nationals willing to visit Nepal,” he said.

At least 11 people were killed and seven others remain missing after heavy rainfall triggered flash floods and landslides in Indian-controlled Kashmir, local media reported on Sunday. The disaster struck the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, southwest of Srinagar, the summer capital of the region. Officials said continuous overnight rain caused rivers to overflow, flooding low-lying areas and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate to safer places. Floodwaters also inundated the new bus terminal at Bela Colony in Rajouri during the early hours of Sunday. Several vehicles were swept away or left submerged as swollen rivers burst their banks, causing widespread damage and disrupting transport. Authorities have launched a large-scale rescue operation involving multiple agencies to search for the missing and evacuate people stranded in flood-affected areas. Rescue efforts have been hampered by ongoing rainfall and damaged roads. Meanwhile, weather officials have warned of more moderate to heavy rainfall across Indian-controlled Kashmir through July 23, raising concerns over further flooding and landslides.

At least 15 people have been killed and 10 others remain missing after flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains struck Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province and the tourist island of Bali, authorities said Wednesday. The rains, which began Monday, caused rivers to overflow and unleashed landslides across the two provinces. In East Nusa Tenggara, rescuers on Wednesday recovered the bodies of a mother and her child buried under mud in Mauponggo, the worst-hit village in Nagekeo district, along with a man in the neighboring village of Loka Laba. Earlier, three members of a family were found dead after their house was swept away in Mauponggo, where four others remain missing, officials said. In Bali, rescuers pulled the body of a woman from a flooded area near Badung market in provincial capital Denpasar late Wednesday, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari. Six people are still unaccounted for. Eight other bodies were found earlier, including four who died when a building was washed away in the Kumbasari market area of South Denpasar, said Nyoman Sidakarya, head of Bali’s Search and Rescue Agency. The floods and landslides have affected nine cities and districts in Bali, submerging at least 112 neighborhoods and damaging roads, bridges, shops and houses, according to Bali’s Disaster Mitigation Agency. Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed cars swept away in muddy waters, while soldiers and rescuers used rubber boats to evacuate children and the elderly from rooftops. Bali Governor Wayan Koster said floodwaters reached up to 2.5 meters in places, forcing more than 800 people into temporary shelters. Electricity and water supplies were cut off, prompting hotels, restaurants, hospitals and other facilities to rely on generators, he added. In Nagekeo, flash floods swept away villagers and vehicles, destroyed two bridges, two government offices, a plantation, rice fields and livestock, said local disaster agency head Agustinus Pone. At least six villagers were confirmed dead there, while four others remain missing. Muhari said rescue operations have been hampered by severe weather and rugged terrain. Indonesia frequently experiences floods and landslides during the rainy season, which typically lasts from September to March.

Indonesian rescuers have recovered 20 bodies and are looking for two villagers who remain missing after flash floods on Sumatra island caused mud and rocks to tumble down mountainsides, officials said Tuesday. Torrential rains over the weekend caused rivers to burst their banks in four hilly districts in North Sumatra province, washing away houses and destroying farms. Four more bodies were recovered Monday evening in Karo Regency, bringing the total there to 10, National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said in a statement Tuesday. Landslide and flash floods hit Indonesia’s Sumatra island, leaving 16 dead and 6 missing Flash floods also left four people dead in Deli Serdang district, and rescue workers were still searching for two people who were swept away. Earlier, rescuers recovered two bodies in villages in South Tapanuli district, and four members of a family, including two children, in Harang Julu, a mountainside village in Padang Lawas district. Three months after Feni flood 1,718 families left with nothing, struggling for aid Seasonal rain from about October to March frequently causes flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

At least 31 people have died in flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in four Indian states since Friday night, officials said on Sunday. In the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh alone, 22 people have been killed in the past 36 hours and several others reported missing after bridges and houses were swept away. "The deaths were reported from the districts of Mandi, Kangra and Chamba. Ten people are also said to be missing," a senior disaster authority official told the media. "Mandi is the worst-hit district, where 13 people have died so far," the official added. Local TV channels aired footage of rescue operations being carried out in Himachal. However, at many places, these operations have been hampered by heavy downpours. Read:India landslide death toll reaches 47 Indian opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took to social media to condole the deaths and urge the Himachal government to provide relief to the affected. "There has been heavy destruction in Himachal Pradesh due to landslides, cloudbursts and floods," Gandhi wrote on Facebook this morning. Apart from Himachal, four deaths have been reported from the neighbouring hilly state of Uttarakhand and the eastern state of Odisha. One person died in Jharkhand. "In Uttarakhand in particular, a series of cloudbursts across the state triggered flash floods and landslides that have claimed four lives so far," a police officer said. In the eastern Indian states of Odisha and Jharkhand, five people have been killed in the past 24 hours. "Four of the deaths occurred in Odisha," another official said. Landslides and flash floods due to cloudbursts and heavy rains are common in northern India in the monsoon months of July to September.

Flash flooding at Death Valley National Park triggered by heavy rainfall on Friday buried cars, forced officials to close all roads in and out the park and stranded about 1,000 people, officials said The park near the California-Nevada state line received at least 1.7 inches (4.3 centimeters) of rain at the Furnace Creek area, which park officials in a statement said represented “nearly an entire year’s worth of rain in one morning.” The park’s average annual rainfall is 1.9 inches (4.8 centimeters). About 60 vehicles were buried in debris and about 500 visitors and 500 park workers were stranded, park officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries and the California Department of Transportation estimated it would take four to six hours to open a road that would allow park visitors to leave. It was the second major flooding event at the park this week. Some roads were closed Monday after they were inundated with mud and debris from flash floods that also hit western Nevada and northern Arizona hard. The rain started around 2 a.m., said John Sirlin, a photographer for an Arizona-based adventure company who witnessed the flooding as he perched on a hillside boulder where he was trying to take pictures of lightning as the storm approached.  “It was more extreme than anything I’ve seen there,” said Sirlin, who lives in Chandler, Arizona, and has been visiting the park since 2016. He is the lead guide for Incredible Weather Adventures and said he started chasing storms in Minnesota and the high plains in the 1990s. “I’ve never seen it to the point where entire trees and boulders were washing down. The noise from some of the rocks coming down the mountain was just incredible,” he said in a phone interview Friday afternoon. Read: Satkhira flood washes away Tk8.28 crore worth of fish, crab, shrimp “A lot of washes were flowing several feet deep. There are rocks probably 3 or 4 feet covering the road,” he said. Sirlin said it took him about 6 hours to drive about 35 miles (56 kilometers) out of the park from near the Inn at Death Valley. “There were at least two dozen cars that got smashed and stuck in there,” he said, adding that he didn’t see anyone injured “or any high water rescues.” During Friday’s rainstorms, the “flood waters pushed dumpster containers into parked cars, which caused cars to collide into one another. Additionally, many facilities are flooded including hotel rooms and business offices,” the park statement said. A water system that provides it for park residents and offices also failed after a line broke that was being repaired, the statement said. A flash flood warning for the park and surrounding area expired at 12:45 p.m., Friday but a flood advisory remained in effect into the evening, the National Weather Service said.

At least 16 pilgrims have died in flash floods triggered by a cloudburst in the northern Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Saturday. Officials said the cloudburst occurred late on Friday evening, leading to flash floods that swept away several makeshift tents at the base camp of a holy Hindu shrine in the central government-controlled territory. "Sixteen people have been confirmed dead. About 40 still seem to be missing. No landslide, but rain continues, though no problem in rescue work," National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) chief Atul Karwal told the local media. According to the top disaster management official, four NDRF teams of 100 personnel have been pressed into rescue work. "The Indian Army is also in action at the disaster site," Karwal said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express his anguish over the loss of lives in the cloudburst. "Condolences to the bereaved families. Also read: India landslide death toll rises to 42 Rescue and relief operations are underway. All possible assistance is being provided to the affected," Modi wrote. Every year, thousands of Hindus visit the holy shrine as part of an annual pilgrimage. Also read: 24 killed in landslide in India's Manipur

More than 418,000 people have been affected in five districts of the country due to the flash floods, according to a recent report by the Needs Assessment Working Group (NAWG) in Bangladesh. The worst affected are those living in the low-lying areas of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts, it said. The flood situation has created an acute crisis of pure water, sanitation, food, shelter, and healthcare among the affected population, while also damaging the livelihoods of many. Several areas have been left without power for days over the past weeks, and roads and communications have been disrupted due to floodwater. Read: Richest countries damaging child health worldwide: Unicef Though floodwater has started to recede in many areas, new challenges have emerged with the risk of a waterborne disease outbreak among the affected population in the aftermath of the floods. Bangladesh Red Crescent Society Secretary General Kazi Shofiqul Azam said: "Severe flash flooding is battering the lives of millions in Sylhet and Sunamganj; people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance." Red Crescent teams are carrying out rapid assessment alongside relief operations, he added.

State Minister for Water Resources Zahid Faruk on Thursday said the damages caused by recent flash floods in Sunamganj were less compared to earlier years due to well-built levees. The state minister was talking to journalists after visiting flood-hit Shantiganj, Jagannathpur and Derai upazilas in Sunamganj when he asked the authorities concerned to take necessary actions to help the affected farmers. “From March 30 water from upstream hills rushed down in the first phase of the flood. Officials and staffs of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and other workers are giving all-out effort to protect the damaged dams since then,” he said. Also read: Sunamganj farmers fear crops loss as floodwater enters haors Zahid said,” In the next Boro season, the affected farmers will be given free seeds and fertilizers along with various food aids including Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) .” The government is providing 70 per cent subsidy to the farmers in the haor area to ease their burden of production cost, he added. “Upstream water running down hills following torrential rain in Meghalaya and Cherrapunji of India triggered the second phase of flash floods. On Sunday night, water entered Huramandira Haor in Derai upazila damaging 200 hectares of 1,000 hectares of cropland in the area, he added. Also read: Flash flood: 860 hectares of cropland go under water in Sunamganj According to the Department of Agricultural Extension a total of 5,660 hectares in 17 small and large haors, beels got inundated by flash floods so far.

Upstream water running down hills following torrential rain in Meghalaya and Cherrapunji of India triggered a second phase of flash floods to hit Sunamganj on Sunday, overflowing the extended Gurmar Haor in Tahirpur upazila. The flooding has risked some 2,000 hectares of crops that are close to maturing for harvest. Farmers have been considering bringing forward their harvest since the first phase of flash floods. Khasrul Alam, a farmer from Golabari village, said from Saturday night water level in the haor increased and broke the old permanent dams at the edges. “If the water continues to enter croplands throughout the day, crops will get damaged. If the water pressure declines in the meantime our crops will be saved,” he added. Following the instruction from the administration, farmers in the haor region were seen rushing to cut half ripened crops as Matian Haor, Shonir Haor, Mohalia Haor, Somsar Haor again faced the risk of being flooded. Also read: Irregularities in maintenance of haor dams irk Agriculture Minister In the last 24 hours, 13 mm rainfall was recorded in Sunamganj as upstream mountain flooding continued to raise water level in rivers and haors in the region. According to the Water Development Board (WDB), at 12pm on Sunday water level in the Surma River was recorded at 5.87 cm, having risen 80 cm in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the water level in Jadukata River increased 71 cm and in the Patlai River by 43 cm. On March 30, Sunamganj haor region was hit by the first phase of flash floods which inundated at least 5,000 hectares of land causing Tk 100 crores worth of losses to farmers. Karuna Sindhu Chowdhury, Chairman of Tahirpur upazila parishad, said they had been struggling to save crops of Gurmar Haor for the last 15 days. “With the assistance of farmers, local leaders, and WDB officers, a risky dam in the Bagmara area was reformed but the second phase of the flood has already overflowed the high edges of the haor. Usually we don’t need dams in these areas. Already locals are working to resist the water from entering,” he said. Mujibur Rahman, a farmer from Joypur village said, “We are guarding the dams every night along with the administrative staff.” Rayhn Kabir, Tahirpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) said, ”The dams are not broken but damaged and are not in a very good condition as water pressure keeps increasing. The dams in the Tanguar haor area are at most risk as any of them can collapse at any moment.” Also read: Flash floods damage crops worth Tk 100 crore in Sunamganj haors Iqbal Al Azad, Jamalganj UP Chairman said,”We have instructed farmers to harvest 80% ripe crops to reduce their losses along with protecting the dams.” “Rainfall is likely to decline both upstream and downstream from Sunday”, said Md Jahangir Hossain, Sunamganj Deputy Commissioner quoting the Met Office. “The dams made of earth have weakened after handling water pressure for the last 15 days. But if we can hold on for a day or two more by working on the damages the danger will have passed as upstream rains are the main reason for flooding here,” he added. According to the district Agricultural Extension Office, this year Boro paddy has been cultivated on 222,805 hectares of land in Sunamganj aiming at a production of 14 lakh metric tonnes. So far, harvesting has been completed on just 30,530 hectares of land - around 14 percent of the area cultivated. According to WDB, 536 -km crop protection dams in 12 upazilas were to be established and reformed at 12 upazilas in Sunamganj, under 727 projects spending Tk 122 crore.