Northeast India Flood Leaves 1 Dead, Thousands Affected

GAUHATI, India -- Heavy monsoon rains have led the mighty Brahmaputra River to overflow its banks and submerge scores of villages in India's remote northeastern state of Assam.

District magistrate Anwaruddin Chowdhury says more than 150,000 people have been hit by floods in three districts of northern Assam.

Chowdhury said Sunday at least one person died after he was swept away by the strong current when he jumped in the river to try to rescue his cattle.

Relief agencies are distributing rice, lentils and salt to tens of thousands of people in temporary shelters set up in schools, offices and other government buildings.

Floods are an annual occurrence in northeastern India during the monsoon season from June to September.

Comments

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

11:25 PM on 08/04/2011

The reason India has floods every year is because the flood plains are the most fertile part of the country. Unlike in the US and China they have never build dikes or levees, they just let the water go where it wants, dropping rich silt on the land, and then rebuilding whatever was washed away. We on the other hand have built a levee system that is longer than the Great Wall of China, and we built it twice, once on each side of the Mississippi. As a result, when the water rises it has nowhere to go. It threatens to overtop and undercut the levees and we all run around in a panic. Then the water goes away and we forget all about it. What we need to do is create new wetlands for the water to fill during the wet season, so it can sink into the ground and refill the aquifer. Instead, we hurry the water to the Gulf then pump the water from the ever-shrinking aquifer and use it to irrigate the crops. When the aquifer is dry and the Corn Belt becomes the Dust Bowl the people on the banks of the Bhramaputra will still be there and still be farming.

[gunfighter2]

09:42 AM on 07/18/2011

That isn't unusual for India. When monsoons hit, their water ways do a number.

[Ashish Srivastava]

08:40 PM on 07/17/2011

The quality of comments here are just appalling. reading all those insensitive, mindless and hateful comments regarding India and victims of the flood, I just feel disappointed in the quality of the readers of huff po.

[PayFwd]

09:52 PM on 07/17/2011

I agree, Ashish. The quality has been disintegrating for the last few months, first with the onslaught of the right-wing trolls, and now with the mini-minds added with the AOL merger. Don't take anything seriously from users with 'Texas' in their username, for starters. Be patient; many of these posters would benefit greatly from international travel but will never do so; maybe it's just as well.

Having visited India a few months ago, I have no doubt that there will be a quick and complete recovery - without the millions required for rebuilding here in the U.S, after floods.

F&F

[greatusername]

09:55 PM on 07/17/2011

I've come to the conclusion that if you go far enough to the left, you meet up with those who have gone far to the right. A lot of the time I don't know if it is far-righties or far-lefties making some of these comments.

[turnkey44]

05:44 PM on 07/17/2011

I hope our rich CEO's that outsourced our jobs to India will help them out.

[doublehappi]

08:58 PM on 07/17/2011

i wish i could meet you in person, i would s-lap you and teach you how to empathize

[chris stl]

10:43 PM on 07/17/2011

well said .... these morooons sit in their mother's basement with their computer and type h8te filled messages and think that they are invincible ....

I would join you in slapping them too and drive some sense in to their brains ....

[Jeffery Doogle]

03:57 PM on 07/17/2011

Avoid floods, learn to swim...duh!

[Levi the Oracle]

05:47 PM on 07/17/2011

Feel the hatred.

[Jeffery Doogle]

07:09 PM on 07/17/2011

Levi? I thought it was your nap time

[chris stl]

10:45 PM on 07/17/2011

Most Indian's are better swimmers than American's .... There are more swimming pool deaths in the US than flood deaths in India!

[Jeffery Doogle]

02:57 PM on 07/18/2011

lol, so thats why they always win all the swimming races...not, you may need to seek help from a vet

[Justthom]

03:49 PM on 07/17/2011

Have we sent them their annual relief check yet. Gotta send it somewhere so that our seniors don't get a raise.

[doublehappi]

08:57 PM on 07/17/2011

what? when was the last time US sent relief aid to india?

what are you talking about man ? The indian economy is in a much better position than american economy. you know that right - If there is anyone who needs aid - it is the US, for funding their wars.

[soitgoes12]

09:36 PM on 07/17/2011

The US provides around 100 million in aid to India.

[ahmed01]

01:56 AM on 07/18/2011

Well of you consider most of the jobs being outsourced as part of charity and aid. Plus if the indian economy were really that strong than why would you still have 43% of your population living below the absolute poverty line.

[RockmanRotties]

03:35 PM on 07/17/2011

I pray that some of them are not dead. Poor them.

[Tenjikuronin]

04:38 PM on 07/17/2011

What?

[capricorn113]

04:42 PM on 07/17/2011

For your information, I am Christian and Indian-American and i have never been treated with hate from any Indian because I am Christian. If anything I get treated with hatred from so called "Christians" that live here...like yourself

[clyek]

03:26 PM on 07/17/2011

Right above this article there was another article that was talking about a 15 day tour of India for 2199.00. (They didnt mention that it was by boat.)

Pay me 2199.00 and I still wouldnt go. There is no reason to at all.

[Tenjikuronin]

04:39 PM on 07/17/2011

Your loss.

[doublehappi]

08:55 PM on 07/17/2011

you still need a passport to go ., bwahahahaha

[BurtonDesque]

11:30 PM on 07/17/2011

And a Visa.

[bighornman]

01:59 PM on 07/17/2011

Heavy rains ... the state of Texas need this water level to fill up the ponds, lakes, and the dried out lands.

[Jeffery Doogle]

04:00 PM on 07/17/2011

Big......Im sending texas rain in 5 days, and it will be a gusher, you can thank me later

[Levi the Oracle]

05:50 PM on 07/17/2011

This one is pretending to be God.

[LogicalMathMan]

01:45 PM on 07/17/2011

Just clarifying a few points to educate those who post asinine comments about India:

1) Gauhati is nowhere close to Mumbai, Bangalore, Chenia, or, Calcutta. The closest major city would be New Delhi.
2) losing lives in flood-stricken areas is indeed a hazard that most Indians have come to accept, albeit grudgingly.
3) The poor are affected the most from the monsoons, just like anywhere else.
4) The state governments are more prepared to deal with monsoon-related setbacks than the central (federal) government. Response is usually more timely than FEMA's.
5) Because Gauhati is more rural than urban, it's a good bet that farmers are affected from the annual monsoons - no industrialized country could combat the setbacks that monsoons wreck on the hapless farmer..

6) Outsourcing was not invited by Indians so much as it was foisted upon the population because US-corporations realized the cost-savings of shipping jobs overseas, after that whole 'Globalization' plan was put into play. It also accounts for less than 1% of all jobs in India.

[Ronju01]

02:52 PM on 07/17/2011

Gauhati is close to Kolkata (Calcutta), not New Delhi.

[Richy33]

03:57 PM on 07/17/2011

I hope we don't send them all the loose change $ that we have left in the good ole usa?

[doublehappi]

10:34 PM on 07/17/2011

Hmm - They have something called a rupee. The loose change doesnt really work in some parts of the world.

But it will help peoply like richy33 to get a passport - or buy a book

[1differentdrummer]

01:37 PM on 07/17/2011

They need a few more people.

[rocknhula]

12:58 PM on 07/17/2011

As 12/21/12 approaches we will see a portion of the world covered in water. Seek high ground. Look at the I Am America maps online to see where flooding is predicted.

[thetxsndn]

02:18 PM on 07/17/2011

This is a better map for the US
http://2012help.info/membership/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/safe-zone-map.gif

[rocknhula]

01:13 PM on 07/20/2011

Hey Thanks! Ben in Kona Hi

[Jeffery Doogle]

04:03 PM on 07/17/2011

the ancients were given knowledge from the gods from the sky, I believe the gods from the sky, more than the god at our local churches....what a joke

[NatTurner1]

12:29 PM on 07/17/2011

is that what you told Mississippi, Joplin Missouri, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky? Are folks from those states LAZY IDIOTS as well?

[clarissa49]

01:39 PM on 07/17/2011

Thank you. Actually, it is not uncommon for that area of India to get 400 inches of rain annually.

[LogicalMathMan]

01:33 PM on 07/17/2011

Wow! One could overlook your total ignorance%^& of how hardworking Indians are, but, to suggest that they suffer in silence because they choose not to help themselves, vaults you into the stratosphere of xenophobic greats.

Now tell FEMA not to help our brothers and sisters who get aid every year from the damages sustained during the hurricane season.

[Jeremyewilliams]

11:44 AM on 07/17/2011

Man, these countries are getting hit hard.

[gposner29]

11:40 AM on 07/17/2011

Floods, bridge collapses, train crashes, capsized tourist boats......"Honey, cancel our trip to Bombay."

[NatTurner1]

12:34 PM on 07/17/2011

So the US doesnt have floods, bridge collapses, capsized tourist boats and train cashes?
1) Flooding - http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1149634014/Heavy-rains-could-case-flooding-problems-for-area
2) Bridge Collapse/Train Derails - http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/07/16/bridge-collapses-train-derails-in-fridley/
3) Boat Capsizes - http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2011/07/16/D9OH3KRG1_us_boat_capsizes/index.html

[Rohan Shanbhag]

01:56 AM on 07/18/2011

Would you cancel a trip to Montana because of flooding in Louisiana?