Rescuers are trying to evacuate flooded towns after torrential rains drenched sections of Bangladesh and northeast India, prompting rivers on both sides of the border to reach dangerous levels.
More than 300,000 people in southeastern Florida have been affected by flooding, which has submerged hundreds of homes and left families stranded on rooftops, a local official said Thursday.
According to official data released , at least 11 people died in the Indian state of Tripura, and two died in Bangladesh.
More than 64,000 people are seeking shelter in relief shelters in Tripura, according to the state’s emergency operations center.
Heavy flooding and mudslides have killed hundreds, displaced millions, and destroyed infrastructure throughout South Asia in recent months.
While flooding is typical in the region during the monsoon season, scientists believe the human-caused climate catastrophe has intensified and made extreme weather occurrences more lethal.
In recent days, parts of India’s northeast border state of Tripura and regions in eastern Bangladesh have received significant rains of up to roughly 200 millimeters, causing deadly floodwaters to surge.
As of Thursday, Bangladesh’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said 11 rivers in the region recorded water levels above the “danger level.”
In the hard-hit Feni district of Chattogram, a city in southeast Bangladesh, efforts are underway to rescue people from waterlogged homes and to shelter the displaced.
Army and navy personnel are evacuating people by boat with the help of volunteers, a senior official said.
Government buildings and high schools have been converted into shelters, and more than 25,000 people are sheltering in relief camps.
