At least 59 people have been killed, according to the AFP news agency. At least 21 people have been killed in lightning strikes in Bangladesh, while the rest have gone missing in floods, lightning and landslides in India, the agency said. Troops were called in to rescue thousands trapped by floodwaters that cut off communications, authorities said on Saturday. While floods in Bangladesh are frequent, experts say climate change is increasing the frequency, the wildness and the unpredictability. In the Indian state of Assam, two million people have seen their homes submerged in flood waters since Thursday, the state disaster management service said. The Brahmaputra – one of Asia’s largest rivers – broke its mud embankments, flooding 3,000 villages and crops in 28 of Assam’s 33 districts. On Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter that he was praying for the safety of the people affected by the floods. Meanwhile, India’s chief minister Meghalaya Conrad Sangma wrote on Twitter that authorities were inspecting landslide damage in the northeastern state. Water levels on all major rivers across Bangladesh are rising, according to the flood forecast and warning center in Dhaka, the country’s capital. The flood-prone country has about 130 rivers. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:03 Millions of underwater homes in India and Bangladesh The floods in Bangladesh, described by a government expert as potentially the worst in the country since 2004, have been exacerbated by heavy rains in the mountains of India. Last month, a sudden pre-monsoon flood, triggered by a torrent of water upstream in India’s northeastern states, hit northern and northeastern Bangladesh, destroying crops and destroying homes and roads. The country was just beginning to recover when fresh rains flooded the same areas again this week. Bangladesh, a nation of 160 million people, is at a low ebb and faces the threat of natural disasters, such as floods and cyclones, exacerbated by climate change.
