By Diana Shaw, British Red Cross, 07 September 2017<\/p>\n
The worst monsoon floods in decades have claimed thousands of lives and continue to devastate communities across South Asia.<\/p>\n
More than 41 million people across Nepal, India and Bangladesh have been affected. An area roughly the size of the UK is under water.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was screaming \u2018the flood is coming\u2019 and we started running,\u201d said Kalawati Rishidevi, a grandmother from Nepal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flood carried us away. I handed my grandson to his mother and after that everybody started running, together with their loved ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to search for my granddaughter. We found the bodies of the others, but we couldn\u2019t find her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nepal was already one of the world\u2019s poorest countries<\/strong><\/p>\n Many people rely on farming to make a living. They work in their own or other people\u2019s fields and raise livestock for food and to sell.<\/p>\n But with the floods washing away homes, farms and businesses, some people don\u2019t know where their next meal is coming from.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t save anything but the children\u2019s lives,\u201d said Sabnam Khatun.<\/p>\n \u201cAdults and children were crying all around. The box containing all our valuables was lost and our three goats and a calf were swept away.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no one to help me and I have to support myself, and pay for the children\u2019s food and schooling by going to work as a farm laborer.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I can\u2019t earn much with that and I can\u2019t expect extra support from my relatives because my father and mother have already passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n The Nepal Red Cross has worked in the country for decades, helping communities prepare for disasters such as floods.<\/p>\n In some of the worst hit areas, trained volunteers used inflatable boats to rescue people cut off by flood waters.<\/p>\n They have also provided food to 42,000 people at temporary shelters and other essentials, such as tarpaulins and hygiene kits, to 185,000 people across the country.<\/p>\n Snakes in the water<\/strong><\/p>\n Adere Begum, a pregnant mother of two, spent six days camping with her children on a tiny island in the middle of Bangladesh\u2019s Jamuna River [link to South Asia floods appeal donation page].<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s natural for us, flooding,\u201d she said. \u201cBut this time it was above knee level in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n A staggering 750,000 homes in Bangladesh have been destroyed or damaged.<\/p>\n The family was protected only by plastic sheeting on the island. \u201cThe children were frightened of snakes in the water,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were shouting, \u2018snakes, snakes!.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The family lost some cattle that they were planning to sell during the recent Eid holiday.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of my animals died \u2013 ducks, chickens, goats and cows, all drowned and were washed away,\u201d added Adere.<\/p>\n Help by boat<\/strong><\/p>\n Walking barefoot down a narrow path, Adere collected a sack of food from our partners the Bangladesh Red Crescent.<\/p>\n Travelling by boat, the volunteers gave food parcels to 630 of the island\u2019s most vulnerable people.<\/p>\n Each parcel contains enough to feed a family for a week with staples such as rice, lentils, semolina and cooking oil. People also receive clean drinking water.<\/p>\n \u201cWe told each other that soon we would receive some help,\u201d said Ayetun Begum. These floods are the worst that the 70-year-old widow can recall.<\/p>\n After water inundated her house, she and her family had to move to a relative\u2019s home. During the six days of flooding, their food supply had started to run low.<\/p>\n \u201cToday I am happy that the Bangladesh Red Crescent has distributed food,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Fields turned into lakes<\/strong><\/p>\n The north-eastern Indian state of Bihar is now filled with lakes. But homes, crops and schools once stood in their place.<\/p>\n Like most people in his village, Mohammed Yunus earns his living through farming rice and jute. And, like most, he wonders what will happen next.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time in my life that I have seen a flood like this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware when the flood arrived. It came late at night. We had to leave the house with our eight children.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything was left in the house and everything was washed away. We lost clothes, food, our water pump and things from the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n Mohammed is one of 31 million people in India affected by the floods \u2013 that\u2019s the equivalent of just under half the UK\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Risks increase after the floods<\/strong><\/p>\n Floodwater can quickly contaminate wells and other water sources. Without clean drinking water, disease can spread quickly.<\/p>\n The Indian Red Cross has already provided medical care to 600 people.<\/p>\n They have also given out 20,000 mosquito nets to protect people from disease carried by insects that breed in stagnant water.<\/p>\n For those without shelter, simple everyday tasks can become challenges.<\/p>\n Ansari and Allbjar, the couple who used to live in this house, now cook dinner on a fire among piles of roofing iron, collapsed walls and debris.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is where our house used to be,\u201d Ansari said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe escaped when the flood came and we just took the baby. We are now staying with our relatives.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are hoping for help because we have nothing left. \u201cWe have no food, we have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n