Millions of people and at least 57 individuals are left stranded and dead, respectively, after heavy rains caused widespread flooding in portions of Bangladesh and India.
As indicated in a Phys.org report, in Bangladesh, around two million people have been stranded by the worst floods in the northeast part of the country for almost 20 years.
According to Mosharraf Hossain, the chief government administrator of the Sylhet region, at least a hundred villages at Zakiganj were drenched after floodwater rushing from the northeast part of India breached a major embankment on the Barak River. The official said, some two million people have been stranded by floods thus far, adding that at least ten people died this year.
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Villagers wade through floodwaters after heavy rains in Hojai district, Assam state, on May 21, 2022. - Heavy rains have caused widespread flooding in parts of Bangladesh and India, leaving millions stranded and at least 57 dead, officials said on May 21.
Role of Climate Change in India's Flooding
Many portions and neighboring regions in India are prone to flooding, and experts explain that climate change increases the possibility of extreme weather occurrences worldwide.
Each added level of global warming raises the amount of water in the atmosphere by roughly seven percent, with unavoidable impacts on rainfall.
Essentially, a related Tabbed News report specified that at least 47 individuals have died in India this week due to days long of flooding, thunderstorms, and landslides, the local disaster management authorities reported.
Around 14 people have died in floods and landslides in the Assam state, bordering Bangladesh. According to authorities in Assam, over 850,000 people in approximately 3,200 villages have been affected by the floods, stimulated by torrential rains that inundated swathes of farmland and caused damage to thousands of homes.
Possible Causes of Flood
A report posted on Bangladesh and Netherlands Flood Weebly specified that Bangladesh has long been susceptible to flooding due to natural causes. Being just two to 13 meters on top of sea levels, it is one of the lowest-lying countries in the world and is believed to become underwater by 2100.
Moreover, Bangladesh is also experiencing regular monsoon seasons and is getting the slow melting down from the Himalayas, again increasing sea levels. Another factor contributing to the natural causes of floods in Bangladesh is that Bangladesh is lying across a massive delta.
The outcome is a big amount of water being directed into one river by the three major contributors: the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghana. Coupled with humans augmenting the deforestation in India, this flooding has made Bangladesh liable to flooding.
Trees and plants are soaking up moisture through interception, although when they are gone, the water may turn into saturated surface runoff and flow into the rivers, therefore, raising the water levels.
Rising Temperatures
Almost 90,000 individuals have been moved to state-run relief shelters as water levels in rivers are high and large swaths of land have remained submerged in most districts.
West of Assam, at least 33 people were killed in Bihar state in thunderstorms later this week. Over three dozen people were injured in the unseasonal weather that impaired hundreds of hectares of standing crops and thousands of fruit trees. Bihar has also suffered a strong heatwave this week, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius.
Related information about floods in India is shown on Chave Weather's YouTube video below:
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Check out more news and information on Flooding in Science Times.
