Scores Killed in India Flash Floods

Torrential rains damaged thousands of homes and caused heavy flooding in southern India, killing at least 86 people and forcing thousands to flee to higher ground, an official and news reports said.

The Press Trust of India news agency says 35 people died on Friday, with many more people reported missing.

It says rains have washed away at least 20,000 houses, submerged roads and snapped communication links in many parts of southern India's Karnataka state.

Army troops have begun rescue operations and helicopters are dropping food and water in the worst-affected areas.

The late monsoon flooding in the past few days also damaged roads and inundated rice crops spread over nearly 120 square miles in Andhra Pradesh state, said Dharmana Prasad Rao, the state revenue minister.

Fifteen deaths occurred in the state's worst-hit Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts, where more than 13 inches of rain fell over the past two days, Rao told reporters.

In neighboring Karnataka state, three days of downpours have killed 40 people and damaged nearly 15,500 homes over the past three days, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted officials as saying.

Most deaths were reported in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts in house collapses or people being swept away by flood waters, PTI said.

Rao said thousands of people were marooned in Kurnool city without food and drinking water, he said.

More than 12,000 people took shelter in 25 relief camps set up by the state government in the two badly hit districts, said K. Damayanti, the district administrator.

Rao said that despite the destruction, the unexpected downpour helped other farmers in the region who were facing failing crops following insufficient rains. India is facing its worst drought in nearly 40 years because of the shortfall in summer rains.

The annual monsoon brings rains that are vital to agriculture in India. Rainfall in Andhra Pradesh during the June-September monsoon season was 30 per cent below average.