translated from Spanish: India: Monsoon rains caused at least 115 deaths and thousands of evacuees

India is going through a severe storm caused by monsoon rains affecting the Maharashtra region and so far at least 115 deaths have been reported, while nearly 150,000 people have been evacuated due to the floods. In the state of Maharashtra, more than half of the dead are concentrated in Raigad, south of Mumbai, where 47 people lost their lives. The rains also caused flooding in the state of Karnataka (southwest), with three dead and 9,000 evacuees, state officials said, according to AFP. Separately, a landslide in the village of Taliye, also south of Mumbai, razed dozens of homes in a matter of minutes and left only two cement structures standing, witnesses said. The Navy and Air Force intervened to help the thousands of people affected by the floods, but landslides have cut several roads that complicated rescue operations. Maharashtra’s head of local government, Uddhav Thackeray, said emergency services were struggling to reach chiplun’s slums due to the state of roads and bridges damaged by the floods. The Indian meteorological department put several regions of the state on red alert and reported that the rains will continue in the coming days. The effects of the monsoon rains were complicated by strong tides and overflowing water from several dams, the Maharashtra government reported.Climate change intensifies monsoon phenomena in India, according to a report by the Potsdam Climate Impact Research Institute (PIK).

Original source in Spanish