Two different storms generated by two different oceans are causing havoc – with more than 1,200 drowned in India, Bangladesh and Nepal and 30 dead in Texas. Hurricane Harvey has turned into a tropical storm which made its second landfall in Louisiana, west of Cameron, and will move inland through Wednesday, August 30, and Thursday, August 31. A curfew has also been declared in Houston where parts of the city were under water after rainfall which has broken all records for a single storm on the continental United States.
A measured 1,300mm of rain had fallen with up to 30% of Harris County flooded. More than 3,500 people have been rescued in Houston alone. More than 9,000 flights have been cancelled in the US linked to Harvey.
Southwest Louisiana is already flooded and a further 250mm of rain are forecast in the area on Wednesday and Thursday with winds of up to 100km/h expected. Officials have said that the ground there is already saturated and more flooding is forecast.
At the same time, in India, monsoon rains have brought Mumbai to a halt as the financial centre has faced a deluge that has not been seen for decades. More than 1,200 have died across the region in wide-ranging rains stretching across the Himalayas causing damage to roads and infrastructure, and washing away thousands of homes. Aviation has been hit across Asia, flights have been diverted and Indian weather authorities say more flooding is expected over the tourist area of Goa and Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Karnataka and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
