Rivers Recede in Flooded South Asia

Helicopters continue food drops as death tolls climb in India, Bangladesh
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 5, 2007 7:11 PM CDT
Rivers Recede in Flooded South Asia
A woman pulls her cow towards a relief camp at Nalei, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of Gauhati, India, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. Torrents of water washed away homes, crops and cows, leaving hungry and frightened villagers perched in treetops or on roofs as the death toll rose to at least 186 and...   (Associated Press)

Millions in South Asia experienced relief today as the rains relented and rivers in flooded regions started receding. The death toll stands at 169 in India and 120 in Bangladesh, where 200,000 started returning to their homes in the northeastern state of Assam. Some 14 million are displaced in India, the AP reports, as are 5 million in Bangladesh.

Indian doctors passed out medicine as a precaution against diarrhea and other waterborne diseases, and helicopters continued airlifting supplies to stranded refugees. "Our effort is to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic," said an army officer. The leader of Bangladesh’s interim government says the country has enough food and medicine to survive without foreign assistance. (More India stories.)

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