Severe Monsoon Floods Displace Millions in Bangladesh

Residents in Bangladesh used makeshift rafts to evacuate their homes, after monsoon floods caused severe flooding in the region.

The country's disaster management agency has said millions have been stranded in the floods, while in India's northeastern Tripura state officials said tens of thousands have been forced from their homes.

A number of deaths have been reported on both sides of the border.

In Tripura, the state's chief Dr. Manik Saha surveyed the damage from the air and visited people in relief camps.

Officials say the displaced have gathered in 450 such camps, and that there has been extensive damage to infrastructure, crops and livestock.

The Indian Army said more than 80 of its personnel joined in rescue efforts, bringing to safety hundreds of people stranded by rising floodwaters.

In Bangladesh, the Gomti river broke through an embankment late, inundating at least 15 villages and displacing hundreds of families, officials and witnesses said.

Officials said blocked roads in several districts had isolated people and hampered rescue efforts.

More than 75,000 people were taken to more than 1,500 shelters in the flood-hit districts, with military and border guards helping in the rescue, authorities said.

Scientists attribute the exacerbation of such catastrophic events to climate change.

Roads in several regions were severed, isolating communities and hampering relief efforts, disaster management and relief officials said.

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre has warned that with the rains continuing, water levels could rise further, raising concern about additional flooding and displacement.

The World Bank Institute estimated in 2015 that 3.5 million people in Bangladesh, one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, were at risk of annual river flooding.