Deadly storms claim more than 150 lives; tens of thousands of people affected across the Indian subcontinent's south and southwest.

June 27, 2007

By Kit Shangpliang, Communications Coordinator


Monsoon season is in full throttle across parts of India.

Three days of incessant rainfall and subsequent flash floods tragically claimed more than 150 lives and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes in the southern and southwestern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashthra last week.

Relief Distributions: Food, Schoolbooks

Six World Vision sponsorship communities in India were affected by the monsoon. Our local staff responded quickly to provide comfort and assistance to people in these areas.

For example, in the World Vision sponsorship community of Gulbarga, supported by donors living in the United States, severe flooding affected 47 World Vision-sponsored children. Rising floodwaters entered the homes of 30 families, damaging grain stores, clothing and student's schoolbooks.

Our staff rushed to distribute relief supplies, including hot meals for families and schoolbooks for 243 students. The local government has since dug a canal to drain water from the low-lying area, and conditions are returning to normal.

World Vision staff members continue to conduct needs assessments in all three flood-affected states. All staff "have been asked to keep vigil," says Franklin Joseph, World Vision's director of emergency response in India.

World Vision Area Updates

Sponsorship areas affected by the monsoon include:

The Bijapur community, supported by World Vision donors in the United States, where some 215 homes collapsed in the villages of Ukumnal, Uthnal and Hegdiyal. Affected families were moved into government and school buildings, which have been designated as temporary relief shelters. Project staff members are providing food to the displaced and planning to help them rebuild their homes. The village of Vambee in the Premadhara sponsorship community, also supported by U.S. donors, where heavy rains fell. The situation there is under control and monitored to ensure that additional needs are met if they arise. The Alleppeyy and Kottyam sponsorship communities, supported by World Vision donors in Canada, also affected by heavy rains and flooding; however, no property damage or loss of life has been reported. Our staff is monitoring the situation closely, prepared to respond if called upon. In Andrahra Pradesh state, in the community of Premamaya that is also supported by World Vision donors in Canada, six villages in the Tangatur area were severely affected by heavy rains. Some 105 sponsored children's homes in the villages of Karumanchi and Thurupu Naidupalem were inundated by flashfloods caused by a cyclonic storm.

"All these children are now safe along with their families," says Prasad Talluri, an area program manager for World Vision in Premamaya. The project confirms that the situation is improving and under control.

Emergency Relief Camps Number 95

In the worst-hit state of Andhra Pradesh, the government has set up 95 emergency relief camps. Local administration officials, police and army personnel are continuing rescue operations in the flood zones.

Most of the deaths took place in this state, in the southwestern district of Kurnool, where the Kundu River overflowed and marooned the 150,000 residents of the town of Nandyal.

Flooding has disrupted road, rail and air traffic and caused power and telecommunications failures across Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, according to government officials. In Maharashtra, 15 people died when their houses collapsed because of lightning strikes and heavy downpours. Another 10 deaths were reported along India's southwest coast in the state of Kerala.

Meanwhile, weather officials are forecasting more heavy rains across India's eastern and western coasts, Reuters reported.