Death toll nears 100 in India flood havoc; widespread damage reported

Floods triggered by heavy rains across southern and western India have killed at least 94 people and destroyed roads, homes and crops, officials said on Friday.

The southern state of Telangana was the worst affected by the unseasonal spell of rain and floods as authorities there said at least 50 people had lost their lives in rain-related incidents since Tuesday.

The torrential downpour damaged rice, cotton and other crops as well as roads and homes across the state.

The damage has been estimated around 60 billion rupees (820 million dollars).

Extreme rains over the course of a few hours on Tuesday were described as unprecedented and a 104-year-high for a single-day for state capital Hyderabad.

Thirty-one people died in and around the metropolis, regarded as India’s information technology hub that is home to offices of companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook.

Daily life was thrown out of gear across the city as roads were flooded and vehicles washed away in several neighbourhoods.

However, the situation was returning to normal with rains subsiding by Friday morning.

Telangana and its neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states have witnessed heavy rains owing to a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal, weather officials said.

While Andhra Pradesh government officials confirmed 15 deaths, Kishor Nimbalkar, disaster management services chief of Mahrashtra state in the west, said 29 people had died in houses collapse, electrocutions and drowning in overflowing streams.

India’s monsoon season between June and early October has already seen widespread death and destruction.

More than 1,030 people have died in rain-related incidents between June and mid-September, according to the home ministry.