Floods in northern India and Nepal

This item appears on page 17 of the November 2008 issue.

Monsoon-swollen rivers overran their banks, broke dams and levies and caused devastating floods in Nepal and in India’s northeastern regions of Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh in August and September — the worst floods there in over 50 years.

Thousands of villages were swamped and more than 1,500 people were killed, with millions displaced. The waters will take months to recede, and aid camps are overwhelmed. The Indian government is supplying food, water and refugee camps, and international aid is being dispersed. Travel to the affected regions should be avoided.