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A scene of devastation in Assam, northeast India, where one of the worst floods in decades has occurred. At least 108 people died and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes. In the Barpeta area, this Friday, residents are trying to organize themselves to survive.
From our special correspondent at Barpeta,
In the Barpeta area, families gather in makeshift tents on roads that are not submerged in water. Some managed to save cows and goats from the waves.
Kamal Uddin tries to dry the grains of rice. ” I am 60 years old and I have never seen such a flood! I was only able to save a few sacks of rice, the others were swept away. We don’t have enough to last until the next harvest with it. I don’t even know when we can return to our homes. »
Gautam Gayan was able to return home two days ago, but he and his family are now mourning his brother’s death: We tried to drain the water and he wanted to turn off the circuit breaker but he got electrocuted. I managed to free him from the current, I did word of mouth. But because we didn’t have access to a doctor, he ended up dying. »
Avoid the plague
On the spot, help is rare and their task is complicated by the few paths they can take. Nilkamal is a volunteer medical student returning from a refugee camp. ” Due to lack of hygiene and lack of food, the refugees contracted diarrhea, fever, skin diseases, he explained. We distribute mosquito repellent candles to prevent malaria explosions in these flooded waters. »
In southern Assam, the situation is also critical as the city of Silchar and its 150,000 inhabitants is completely submerged. A disaster of an unprecedented scale is expected to take place as rain continues to fall in the Brahmaputra watershed this Friday.
Read: Climate change in India: temperature not recorded since 1901
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