Southeast Asian Flooding Worsens

Death tolls in the widespread flooding that has left parts of India and Bangladesh inundated rose to more than 700 people on Tuesday. The victims have all died since September 18 when late monsoon rains caused rivers to burst their banks and dams to overflow. Much of the border area between the two countries has been left beneath 10 feet (three metres) of floodwater.

At least 15 million people have been displaced by the flooding. Thousands of residents in the densely populated city of Calcutta began evacuating to higher ground on Tuesday following warnings that the floods, combined with predicted high tides, could submerge low-lying areas by midnight. The warning came as the Ganges River and other rivers in West Bengal and Bangladesh continued to rise and burst their banks.

Relief officials reported that the main road between Calcutta and the worst-hit district of Murshidabad had become completely submerged about 50 miles (80 km) from Calcutta. Damage from the floods has left vast areas of West Bengal and Bihar without power as electric lines have broken and transformers have become waterlogged.

Grant Cassidy, a relief worker for World Vision, reported, "People are living on rooftops and climbing into trees. All sorts of . . . small makeshift craft are bringing people in. There are not enough boats. The national highway is just an island. The military is doing its operations from there."