The second round of heavy monsoon rains, floods and landslides to hit northeastern India this month already claimed lives of at least 22 people, Assam state officials said on Tuesday, September 23, 2014.
The government rushed personnel of the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force to rescue people in Goalpara and Dhubri districts as Dispur's assessment suggested "serious flood" following incessant rainfall across the state and in neighbouring Meghalaya since yesterday.
According to Pramod Kumat Tiwari, the head of Assam’s Disaster Management Authority, more than 50 villages were hit by flash floods in the Garo Hills district of Meghalaya.
Local media reports put the number killed in Meghalaya since Monday at 25, as people were swept away or buried in the debris in North Garo Hills and West Garo Hills district. (BBC)
3 dead after severe floods in Assam; Villages in Goalpara, Dhubri, Lakhimpur, Kamrup, Guwahati under water pic.twitter.com/1Ju8jVVsbh
— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) September 22, 2014
Weather stations in Assam recorded 108.4 mm rainfall yesterday. Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh saw 29mm and 70.3mm rain respectively.
A warning issued by the weather forecast centre of the Met department yesterday said heavy to very heavy rainfall would occur at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall over Assam and Meghalaya tomorrow and Wednesday.
The daily flood bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority yesterday said 50,229 people in 93 villages in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Kamrup, Barpeta and Udalguri have been affected by the current wave of floods in the state. (TelegraphIndia)
10 dead in flash floods, landslides in #Assam; more rains expected in next 48 hours http://t.co/IRvkkSAT9g pic.twitter.com/0DADAIVY1A
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) September 23, 2014
Telegraph India also reports Assam's chief minister Tarun Gogoi held emergent meeting of senior officials in the Assam state capital yesterday asking the officials to step up rescue and relief efforts.
The meeting also decided that State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel would be stationed permanently in the flood-prone areas and two additional companies of the force would be raised.
Terra/MODIS image acquired on September 23, 2014.
Featured image credit: Heavy rainfall over Assam on September 22, 2014. Image credit: NASA Aqua/MODIS
