Scores Die In India Monsoon Flooding

Police Say 74 Dead In Poor Northern Region, More Rain Forecast In Coming Days

(AP)  At least 74 people died as heavy monsoon rains lashed northern India, bringing dozens of poorly constructed buildings crashing down, police said Thursday.

All the deaths were reported from Uttar Pradesh state, one of India's poorest, and raise the death toll across the country from this year's monsoon season to more than 300 people.

"The dead included women and children, as most of the fatalities occurred due to the incidents of houses collapsing," said state police spokesman Surendra Srivastava.

One of the worst hit places was the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where 11.5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.

The deluge caused the walls of one house to collapse, killing nine members of a singe family, said Srivastava. Four others were also killed in the city.

Schools in Varanasi and the nearby town of Barabanki were closed and the Ganges River was overflowing in some points, said Atul Kumar Gupta, a senior state official. Varanasi is 165 miles southeast of Lucknow, the state capital.

Gupta said families would get 100,000 rupees ($2,350) in compensation for victims of the flooding.

In the town of Sitapur 24 people were killed when 12 buildings collapsed, Mritunjay Rai, a government official told The Associated Press by phone. Sitapur is some 50 miles southwest of Lucknow.

"Two girls were buried alive as their mud house fell on them," Rai said.

Officials at the meteorological department warned of more flooding in the days to come.

"A similar pressure area exists over the Bay of Bengal. Under these circumstances heavy rains are expected in next couple of days," said L. C. Ram, the director of the office.

Monsoon season, which lasts from June to September in India, brings rain vital for the country's farmers but also massive destruction. Floods, mudslides, house collapses and lightning strikes kill hundreds every year.

Floods Wednesday left nearly 80,000 people stranded and dependent on emergency aid for food and water in India's remote northeast.

Authorities used motorboats to rush aid to flood victims in more than 70 inundated villages on Majuli, one of Asia's largest freshwater islands located in the Brahmaputra River, said A. Baruah, a local government official in the state of Assam.

There have been no deaths reported so far on the island, Baruah said.

[questionnews]

I wonder gop_forever is intentionally trying to make the Repubs look like fools. Either way the goal is being achieved by his / her posts.

Posted by kphx at 12:41 PM : Aug 21, 2008

gop_forever is well known for the caca that he/she posts. 90% of the folks that visit this site are quite aware the posts are not real. But, the 10% that get suckered into responding just keep falling for it. Every time I see someone respond I yell "FISH ON!!"

[xmanborg]

Send Water Wings to India that might help.

[pirmin3]

Happens every year. Must be a slow news day at CBS. When the rain stops you can always cover the hundreds of thousands of people who have body parts dropping off due to disease.

[missingamerica]

Ever notice that when you read one of these disaster stories and it includes a phrase like "poorly constructed buildings" in it, it is inevitably about a nation where our corporations are eager to offshore our jobs to because of the lower labor costs and lax or absent regulatory requirements?

lollll...catch a clue, America...if we eliminate all laws designed to protect health, life, and liberty, our corporations and our wealthy elite will give us our jobs back...

[observer2020]

I wonder gop_forever is intentionally trying to make the Repubs look like fools. Either way the goal is being achieved by his / her posts.
Posted by kphx

gop is just making itself look really foolish. If there was a picture posted or a news camera in its face, I''d lay good money on it keeping its mouth shut. It''s the anonymity that allows it to continuously spout nonsense.

Acts of nature are just that, acts of nature. With all the pollution, etc., nature is getting really ticked off at us and is lashing back.

[kphx]

Someday they will adopt christianity and these senseless deaths shall stop. For now take that you evil Polytheismists!


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Posted by gop_forever at 09:23 AM : Aug 21, 2008

I wonder gop_forever is intentionally trying to make the Repubs look like fools. Either way the goal is being achieved by his / her posts.

[gangesdak]

Someday they will adopt christianity and these senseless deaths shall stop. For now take that you evil Polytheismists! ----------------------------------------
-------------- Posted by gop_forever


Makes you wonder what kind of VooDoo they are practicing down in Florida!
They are about get hit the THIRD TIME by the SAME HURRICANE!!!
Posted by DaVicar2 at 11:24 AM

Keep pounding DaVicar2. The "challenged" ones need to be on leash.

[ubrew12]

pirmin3 said: "They die in floods every single year. Why is this news??? "
Why is Hurricane Fay news? Is that something that doesn''t happen this time of year?

[pirmin3]

They die in floods every single year. Why is this news???