NEWS
EVENTS
Mumbai flooding leaves more than a 1,000 dead
Mass rainfall has hit Mumbai and brought the city to a stand still for the second day, it seems that these floods have been by far the worst to hit South Asia in years.
The death toll has been estimated to be 1,200 people across India. 40 million have been affected by these floods and has had significant damage to 18,000 schools in the process.
The monsoon rains have flooded areas stretching across the Himalayas Foothill in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India, which has caused devastating effects such as landslides, damaged roads and electric towers being destroyed. 10,000 homes have been washed away.
The streets of Mumbai have turned into makeshift river streams.With water reaching waist high, most deaths have occurred in the shanty towns of India which is home to more than half of Mumbai's population.
The IFRC has said that these floods are the fourth significant floods this year which have affected 7.4 million people in Bangladesh and has damaged more than 697,000 houses.
This natural disaster has killed 514 in Bihar and has affected 17.1 million. Management officials have said that in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh 2.5 million have been affected and the death toll stands at 109. The IFRC said landslides in Nepal have killed more than 100 people.
Snehal Tagade, a senior official in Mumbai’s disaster management unit, has said 150 teams were being sent to help people in low-lying areas. Flooding and high tide in the western coastal city threaten to overload an old drainage system.
It seems that all these floods that have been occurring in the recent month have been disastrous and fatal, leaving one question in mind can it really be safe to live the way we all have become so accustomed to.
Global warming is fast becoming an issue and with these new natural disasters hitting countries and cities faster and more extreme than anticipated, change really does hang in the balance of those who hold the key to making a difference. One thing for sure is our ecosystem may be in jeopardy if we don't start to make changes soon.
