IFRC: Assam monsoon rain nearly 500% above average in places

By the Climate Centre

Exceptionally heavy monsoon rain has been causing severe flooding across the north-east Indian state of Assam, inundating villages, farmland and critical infrastructure.

IFRC-DREF yesterday announced a humanitarian cash grant of 500,000 Swiss francs to enable the Indian Red Cross to assist 75,000 affected people over the next few weeks, especially with emergency shelter, health care and hygiene materials.

The money will replenish Indian Red Cross Society emergency stocks of tarpaulins, kitchen sets, and mosquito nets, which were being rapidly utilized to support flood-affected households.

Nearly 100 people have now died in Assam in this latest episode, media reports said today, and it has been described as the worst flooding in six decades in this already flood-prone state.

The floods in the state began in mid-July and peaked last week after rainfall reached up to 490 per cent above average levels in parts of upper Assam, the IFRC said.

“Floodwaters spread rapidly across multiple districts, inundating more than 800 villages.”

Prepositioning meant lower response time

The flooding led to large-scale displacement, with nearly 30,000 people evacuated and over 70,000 people accommodated in relief camps at the height of the emergency.

At least 1.1 million people are still affected in more than 400 villages in eight districts and “significant humanitarian and recovery needs persist”.

IRCS prepositioned relief stocks at its warehouse in Guwahati city on the banks of the River Brahmaputra, however, enabling the local Red Cross branch to start relief distributions quickly and significantly reducing response time.

The Red Cross has also been in action for the monsoon in neighbouring Myanmar, meanwhile, where the Ngawun river broke its banks, affecting more than 20,000 people in 16 villages.

Nearly 40 Myanmar Red Cross Society volunteers responded immediately alongside firefighters, rescue teams, and local authorities to evacuate families to safety and distributed tarpaulins, food, and safe drinking water.

Indian Red Cross volunteers assess the impact of floods in Assam state, which sits on the flood plain of the Brahmaputra that’s fed by more than 50 tributaries. (IRCS via IFRC)