India: Monsoon floods kill at least 69 in northern India
Floods and landslides accompanying the onset of the summer monsoon in northern India have killed at least 69 people.
The past two weeks, marked by the start of the summer monsoon, have seen at least 69 people lose their lives in floods and landslides, Indian authorities announced Friday. Hundreds of people die each year during the rainy season in India, the world's most populous country, with 1.4 billion inhabitants.
These rain-related floods and landslides are common across South Asia, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity. In the state of Himachal Pradesh alone, heavy rainfall in recent days has rapidly swollen the flow of rivers that originate in the Himalayas.
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A provisional report released Friday by local authorities reported a total of 69 deaths and 110 injuries over the past two weeks. The Indian Meteorological Service issued a warning on Thursday of "heavy to very heavy rainfall" for the next five days in Himachal Pradesh and the neighboring state of Uttarakhand, a popular tourist destination.
Other deadly floods have been reported in recent weeks in the northwestern and northeastern states of Gujarat. The monsoon season, which runs from June to September, provides South Asia with 70 to 80 percent of its annual rainfall and is vital for agriculture and food security in a region of 2 billion people.
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