At least 95 people have been killed by monsoon flooding in southern and western India, while hundreds of thousands have been evacuated from their homes, according to reports.

More than 40 of those killed were in the south-western state of Kerala.

The flooding and landslides caused by the heavy seasonal rainfall have left some areas cut off.

Officials have called on those affected to try to seek shelter on higher ground.

India is affected by monsoon rains between June and September. While crucial to replenishing water supplies, the heavy rainfall also results in death and destruction each year.
• Is India's weather becoming more extreme?

Disaster management officials said more than 100,000 people in Kerala had been evacuated into emergency relief camps, while more than 40 had been killed.

"There are around 80 places where flood and rains have triggered mudslides, which we cannot reach," state police spokesman Pramod Kumar told AFP news agency.

With the rains predicted to continue there in the coming days, the military is attempting to airlift food to stranded villages.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed in Kerala in what was described as the state's worst flooding in 100 years.

The south-western state of Karnataka and western state of Maharashtra - which is home to India's financial capital Mumbai - are also experiencing heavy rains, with dozens of fatalities reported and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated.

India's National Disaster Management Authority issued warnings on Saturday for "heavy" to "extremely heavy" rainfall in several parts of the country, as well as strong winds. </s> Colombo: Indian medical teams and emergency relief arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday as the monsoon-related death toll reached 100 and authorities warned of more flooding in low-lying areas.

Meanwhile, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi today condoled the loss of lives and property in Sri Lanka due to heavy flooding and landslides.

"India condoles the loss of lives and property in Sri Lanka due to flooding and landslides. We stand with our Sri Lankan brothers and sisters in their hour of need," the Prime Minister said.

A ship carrying medical supplies docked in Colombo today, sent by India to help deal with the worst flooding in the island`s western and southern regions in 14 years after record rainfall.

India is sending another ship due to arrive on Sunday after Sri Lanka issued an international appeal for help.

Meanwhile, the official Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said today that the death toll from floods and a string of landslides had climbed to 100 while the number of missing since Friday`s deluge had been revised down to 90 from 110.

Forty other people are in a hospital.

Authorities issued fresh evacuation orders for those living downstream of two major rivers, citing a risk of flooding even though the rains had subsided.

"The monsoon has firmly established and we could have evening showers at a lesser intensity", metrological department chief SR Jayasekera said.

The flooding is the worst since May 2003 when 250 people were killed and 10,000 homes destroyed after a similarly powerful Southwest monsoon, officials said.

The DMC said the monsoon ended a prolonged drought that had threatened agriculture as well as hydropower generation.

The rains have filled reservoirs used for hydroelectric projects after low supplies had raised fears of power shortages in June.

But officials said most reservoirs were now so full they were in danger of spilling over and flooding communities living downstream.

Friday`s flooding was caused by rivers bursting their banks, but unusually heavy rain triggered more than a dozen landslides burying homes on mountain slopes.

By Friday evening over 60,000 people had been driven out of their homes while nearly 500 homes had been either damaged or destroyed.

Most of the deaths have occurred due to mountainsides collapsing on homes, authorities say. </s> Flood victims are evacuated to safer areas in Kozhikode, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018. Torrential monsoon rains have disrupted air and train services in the southern Indian state of Kerala, where flooding, landslides and bridge collapses have killed dozens of people in the past week, officials said.

NEW DELHI – Rescue workers use helicopters and boats to evacuate hundreds of people stranded on their home rooftops following unprecedented flooding in the southern Indian state of Kerala where more than 160 people have died.

With torrential rains stopping on Friday, thousands of rescuers worked quickly to shift the marooned people to 1,200 state-run camps where more than 150,000 people already have taken shelter.

Heavy rains over the past eight days triggered flooding, landslides and home and road bridge collapses, severely disrupting air and train services in Kerala state, a popular tourist destination with beautiful beaches.

State officials have put the death toll at 164 since Aug.8.

Monsoon rains kill hundreds of people every year in India. The season runs from June to September. </s> Death toll rises to 93 in floods, mudslides in south India

NEW DELHI (AP) — At least 93 people have been killed and more than 400,000 displaced in floods and mudslides following days of torrential rains in southern India.

The worst-hit has been the state of Kerala where the death toll rose to 57 by late Saturday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted.

That was an increase from 42 deaths reported since Aug. 8. More than 165,000 people left their homes for relief camps.

The Press Trust of India news agency reported another 31 people have been killed in rain-related accidents in neighboring Karnataka.

At least five others were reported dead in Tamil Nadu state.

Kerala suffered catastrophic floods a year ago when heavy downpours killed 223 people and drove hundreds of thousands from their homes.

South Asia has continued to face rain-related disasters during the monsoon season, with 160 people killed last month in northeastern India, Nepal and Bangladesh. </s> BENGALURU/MUMBAI
• At least 22 people have died in the southern Indian state of Kerala after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooding that cut off some areas, the authorities said yesterday.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September cause deaths and mass displacement across South Asia every year, but they also deliver more than 70 per cent of India's rainfall and are crucial for farm output and economic growth.

In Kerala, the disaster forced the evacuation of more than 22,000 people and the closure of Cochin International Airport, the busiest airport in the tourist state.

Located along the banks of the Periyar River, the airport will be shut until at least 5.30pm Singapore time today, although the Indian Navy has opened an airfield at a naval base for use by commercial flights, officials said.

Kerala was hit by devastating floods last August that killed more than 200 people and affected more than five million people. Those floods, dubbed the worst to hit the state in nearly a century, caused billions of dollars worth of damage to fields, homes and other infrastructure.

A few dozen people are feared trapped after a major landslide in Puthumala village in the hilly district of Wayanad.

Rescuers have recovered seven bodies, and the state government is planning to airlift rescue equipment to the area, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, adding: "All arrangements have been put in place to deal with the disaster."

The states of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka in western India have also been hit this week by heavy rain and flooding.

Officials said at least 38 people have been killed in the states this week due to the rain and more than 200,000 have been evacuated.

Hundreds of villages and a few towns in the affected areas of Maharashtra do not have electricity and drinking water, a state government official said yesterday, and the authorities are trying to restore electricity in some areas.

Schools and colleges in many parts of western and southern India have been shut since Monday and are unlikely to open this week, the authorities have said.

Milk and vegetable supplies to India's financial hub, Mumbai, dropped significantly yesterday because many of the affected districts in Maharashtra are major suppliers.

The weather department has forecast further heavy rainfall in Kerala, and Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Kerala has been releasing water from some of its dams to avoid dam waters rising to dangerous levels like last year, the authorities said. </s> The death toll from floods in the Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra has risen to at least 147, according to authorities, as rescue teams raced to evacuate people and waters submerged parts of a world heritage site.

Heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands of people to take shelter in relief camps, while train services were cancelled in several flood-hit areas.

In the southern state of Kerala, at least 57 people were killed in rain-related incidents while more than 165,000 were in relief camps in the state, local authorities said on Sunday.

"Several houses are still covered under 10-12 feet deep mud. This is hampering rescue work," state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Authorities worried that rescue operations would be hit by thunderstorms and rainfall predicted in some parts of Kerala.

"People are facing a lot of problems. Water has come from all directions, water has entered all the houses," a rescued local, Ajeet Pattankudi, told Reuters News Agency.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed in Kerala and over five million were affected in one of the state's worst floods in 100 years.

Residents are being evacuated from their home to a safer place following floods warnings, on a wooden boat in Kochi [AFP]

In Karnataka, several structures at the world heritage site Hampi, an ancient town, were flooded.

So far, 60 people have died in rain-related incidents, said state chief minister BS Yediyurappa, adding nearly 227,000 people were staying in relief camps.

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In Maharashtra, where the death toll stood at 30, the flood situation was improving, according to state-run All India Radio, though authorities said it would be difficult to restore rail services in some flood-hit areas within the next two weeks.

While Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra have been the worst hit this year, several other states including Gujarat, Assam and Bihar have also seen heavy damage due to floods.

India's main opposition Congress party on Sunday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide relief packages.

Citing media reports, the party said so far this year 446 people have been killed in six flood-hit states including Assam, Bihar and Gujarat.

"Despite the mammoth loss of lives and displacement caused due to floods, the government is failing to realize the gravity of the flood fury," it said in a statement. </s> KOCHI/BENGALURU — The death toll from floods in India’s states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 95, official figures showed on Saturday, as heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September are a crucial lifeline for agrarian Indian society, delivering 70% of the country’s rainfall, but they also bring in their wake death and destruction every year.

“Our entire village under water for the last eight days but still we haven’t got any assistance from the government,” said farmer Prashant Lathe, 35, from a village in one of the flood-hit districts of the western state of Maharashtra.

The district has lost access to all basic amenities such as drinking water, power supply, cooking gas cylinder and petrol for running vehicles, Lathe said.

Excessively strong rains can also harm India’s farming sector, which employs nearly half of its 1.3 billion people. Lathe said his sugar cane plantation of around four acres was submerged.

In the southwestern state of Kerala, some 42 people died and over 100,000 affected people have been evacuated, the central government’s disaster management cell said, after 80 landslides hit the state in two days.

The state was opening the gates of Banasurasagar dam in Wayanad district on Saturday to manage water levels and avoid serious damage.

Last year, more than 200 people were killed and over five million affected in one of Kerala’s worst floods in 100 years. Some residents said the sudden opening of dam gates without proper warnings to those living downstream was a big factor in the devastation.

The state’s busiest airport, Cochin International Airport, closed since Friday as the taxiway was water-logged, will resume operations from 0630 GMT on Sunday, the airport management said.

In neighboring Karnataka, home to India’s tech hub Bengaluru, some 24 people have died in what chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said on Saturday were the worst floods in 45 years.

Around 1,024 villages have been inundated due to the rains, several dams were reaching their full capacity, and over 200,000 people had been evacuated, he added.

In Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai, 29 people have died this week.

The Indian Meteorological Department said heavy to very heavy rain was likely to lash isolated areas of Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra, and some southern states might also see extremely heavy rain on Saturday. (Reporting by Jose Devasia in Kochi and Gopakumar Warrier in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai Writing by Promit Mukherjee Editing by Kim Coghill and Stephen Powell) </s> Monsoon floods and landslides have killed at least 66 people across Nepal and India but officials fear that figure could almost double as rescuers search for dozens believed lost under mud and in submerged villages.

Authorities Sunday upgraded the death toll from flash flooding across landlocked Nepal to 49 as the water kept rising, forcing thousands to flee for higher ground.

"Another 17 are missing. Search and rescue works are underway but the water levels have not declined yet," said Shankar Hari Acharya, the chief of Nepal's national emergency centre.

The Red Cross estimated a higher death toll of 53, with dozens more missing and injured and thousands of homes destroyed.

In neighbouring India, rescuers were desperately trying to reach two packed buses swept into a gorge by a landslide so powerful it destroyed an entire stretch of highway.

The coaches had stopped for a tea break around midnight Saturday in Himachal Pradesh when tonnes of rock and mud cascaded down a mountainside.

Seventeen bodies have been recovered from the accident site in the Himalayan state, said Sandeep Kadam, a senior official at the scene.

But dozens were still missing somewhere at the bottom of the ravine, with soldiers and rescuers clawing through the mud and rock to reach them.

"Around 200 metres of national highway washed away with two buses and more than 50 feared buried," said Indian army spokesman Colonel Aman Anand, who was helping coordinate rescue efforts.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his condolences and prayers for those affected by the accident.

"Pained by the loss of lives due to landslide-related accidents in HP's Mandi district," he posted on Twitter, using the acronym for Himachal Pradesh state.

The disaster followed days of heavy rain, which loosens the soil on steep hillsides and threatens villages at the foot of mountains every monsoon season.

Hundreds have died across India in torrential rain, floods and landslides since the onset of the wet season in April.

In Nepal the toll from this year's monsoon -- which typically lasts from late June until the end of August -- has already eclipsed last year, with more than 100 people confirmed dead.

Last weekend in the central lowlands, four girls from the same family drowned when they fell into a flooded roadside ditch.

Nepal's weather department warned that heavy rain was expected to continue for another day, following days of torrential downpours.

"There isn't a house without water," said Raghu Ram Mehta, a resident of the southern district of Sunsari which has suffered nine deaths, the highest of any district.

"Hundreds of families are taking shelter in local schools."

Footage aired on Nepali TV showed villagers wading through waist-high water with their belongings and using boats to reach higher ground.

Families perched on trees with young children overnight as flood waters swept away homes in a village in the southern district of Chitwan, local media reported.

In the popular jungle safari resort of Sauraha in Chitwan, hotels were forced to shift their guests to higher floors as water rushed in.

A hotel owner said they used elephants to transport tourist

highway and airport to help them return to the capital Kathmandu.

Biratnagar airport in the eastern district of Morang was closed after being submerged in a metre of water, authorities at the international terminal said.

"I have already instructed authorities concerned to rescue flood victims, move them to safer locations and immediately provide relief to them," Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said in a video recording Saturday. </s> KOCHI/BENGALURU (Reuters) - The death toll from floods in India's states of Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra rose to 95, official figures showed on Saturday, as heavy rain and landslides forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Seasonal monsoon rains from June to September are a crucial lifeline for agrarian Indian society, delivering 70% of the country's rainfall, but they also bring in their wake death and destruction every year.

Some 42 people died in southwestern Kerala and over 100,000 affected people have been evacuated, the central government's disaster management cell said, after 80 landslides hit the state in two days.

The state planned to open the gates of Banasurasagar dam in Wayanad district at 0930 GMT, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said during a news conference in the city of Kochi. Shutters of the dam were partially opened on Saturday morning to manage the water level and avoid serious damage, a senior state official of the district confirmed to Reuters.

A red alert, or severe rainfall and bad weather conditions forecast, has been issued for seven out of 14 districts in the state, the Kerala State Disaster Management control room told Reuters on Saturday.

Last year, Kerala was hit by one of its worst floods in one hundred years. More than 200 people were killed and over 5 million affected.

The state's busiest airport, Cochin International Airport, has been closed since Friday as the taxiway is water-logged. The airport is expected to reopen from Sunday as water levels had started to recede, the state body said.

In neighbouring Karnataka, home to India's tech hub Bengaluru, some 24 people have died in what chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said on Saturday were the worst floods in 45 years.

Around 1,024 villages have been inundated due to the rains, several dams were reaching their full capacity, and over 200,000 people had been evacuated, he added.

As many as 16 of the state's 30 districts have been affected by the heavy rains and 235,105 people have been evacuated and shifted to 624 relief camps, Yeddyurappa added.

In Maharashtra, home to India's financial capital Mumbai, 29 people have died this week.

The Indian Meteorological Department said on its website that heavy to very heavy rain was likely to lash isolated areas of Kerala, parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra, and some southern states might also see extremely heavy rain on Saturday.
The death toll due to the monsoon flooding in southern and western India rises to 147, while hundreds of thousands have been evacuated from their homes.