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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Disaster everywhere

Overshadowed by an American and Caribbean hurricane, the news of the South Asian flooding has emerged slowly. Even in Dhaka, the English-language newspapers carried events in Houston on their front pages. But these are the worst floods in a century. Across the region, more than 41 million people have been affected with vast destruction of agriculture and housing.
Buildings have collapsed in Mumbai. Volunteers at Indian Red Cross and other agencies have been overwhelmed. Entire districts in the north of India have been submerged for weeks, leaving tens of thousands camped on roads and embankments. Landslides and floods have killed an estimated 160 people in southern Nepal.
In Bangladesh, 145 people have died and I’ve seen countless houses destroyed. More than 100,000 houses are estimated to be ruined. Over 8 million people have been affected by floods that covered a third of the country.

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