Monsoon rains hit South Asia, replacing millions of people.

(source News Straits Times)

DHAKA:  Across southern Asia, more than four million people have been hit by major floods due to monsoon floods that destroyed homes and structures, drowning entire villages and forcing people to crouch on the roof in hopes of saving.

The monsoon season usually June to September brings heavy rains, floods that are crucial for South Asia's agrarian economy.

But in recent years, the monsoon season has brought more hurricanes and catastrophic floods, resulting in the internal displacement of millions of people in low-lying areas, especially in Bangladesh.

Last year, at least 600 people were killed and more than 25 million were affected by the floods due to the monsoon rains that hit Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Nepal, according to the UN. And in 2017, more than 1,000 people died in floods across South Asia.

The heaviest rainfall this year is in north-eastern India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal, according to the Southeast Asia Lightning Flood Forecast System, which is affiliated with the United Nations.

Enamur Rahman, Bangladesh's minister for disaster management, said floods were the worst in decades and that hundreds of thousands of families had been destroyed, forcing authorities to open more than 1,000 emergency shelters.

"We are facing a disaster with every available resource," Rahman said. "It looks like rain and flooding will last this year."

India is also suffering greatly. Floods hit the entire state of Assam, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and other areas in the eastern part of the country.

Authorities say at least 85 people have died, with more than three million people affected by the floods. In the northeastern state of Assam, Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage site home to a single-horned Indian rhino, a species listed as vulnerable by the WWF, has been completely flooded. Officials say more than 50 animals have died in the floods, although some wildlife has been saved.

With more than a dozen rivers and tributaries swelled above the danger sign, rescue operations have been carried out in at least 22 counties across Assam.

In Nepal, 67 people have died and 40 others are missing, according to the National Emergency Operations Center.