Torrential rains in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have killed at least 22 people and displaced tens of thousands of villagers over the past week, an official said on Monday.
Downpours triggered by a cyclone that hit the coast near Chennai last week left hundreds of villages inundated and 60,000 people in relief camps, Karikal Valaven, a government officer overseeing emergency operations, told reporters.
“At least 22 people have died and thousands have lost their houses. The rains have damaged all the standing crops in the coastal region,” he said.
Disaster response teams helped move people to higher ground in rubber boats and nearly 100 shelters were opened across the state to accommodate people fleeing the flood zone.
“The unseasonal rainfall has destroyed our crops and our entire field is submerged in water,” Arku Rajaipa, a farmer in Guntur district, one of the worst-affected regions, told a local TV news channel.
“We will have to depend on the government for food the whole year.”