Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SHAKE AND BLOW
5,500 may have died in north India floods: officials
by Staff Writers
Dehradun, India (AFP) July 09, 2013


Authorities have raised to 5,500 the estimated number of people who perished in devastating floods that swept the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand last month.

At least 1,000 residents, Hindu pilgrims and tourists have been confirmed killed by the surging waters caused by heavier than normal monsoon rains that washed away homes, hotels, highways and cars.

"The total number of people still missing is 4,500," Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna told a news conference in mountainous Uttarakhand state capital Dehradun on Monday.

Late last month authorities estimated the number of people missing in the Himalayan state to be 3,000.

"We will wait until July 15 and after that they (the missing) will be presumed dead and the process of compensation will start," Bahuguna added.

The government has promised to pay 500,000 rupees ($8,196) to families of each of those killed in the June 15 floods, which triggered widespread landslides.

Officials say some people initially reported missing may have returned home or continued with their travels, failing to notify authorities that they were safe.

Rescue workers have recovered bodies from rivers hundreds of kilometres (miles) downstream from the flood zone, underscoring the difficulties in finding all those killed in the floods.

A state lawmaker last month warned the death toll could exceed 10,000 in Uttarakhand, which is popular among Hindu devotees who throng local shrines during the June-September pilgrimage period.

Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar said a 75-member rescue team was marooned in Kedarnath Valley after reaching the hilly region on July 3 and that the rescuers were running out of food.

"They are now rationing the food they carried for themselves," Kumar told reporters.

He added that 60 of the rescuers were sick from drinking contaminated water in corpse-littered Kedarnath, a popular Hindu pilgrimage site.

He said relief supplies have been sent to 250 villages that are still cut off in Uttarakhand and added that state workers stocked up stores in 92 remote hamlets with supplies for residents.

Thousands of Indian soldiers, backed by military helicopters, have been winding down massive rescue efforts.

More than 100,000 people stranded in the state have been evacuated.

.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SHAKE AND BLOW
Lourdes closed, 200 evacuated after flash floods
Toulouse, France (AFP) June 18, 2013
French authorities Tuesday shut the grotto at Lourdes and evacuated about 200 people following flash floods at the Roman Catholic pilgrimage site. The preventive measure came a day after heavy rain and unseasonal snowfall in the area led to rivers flowing well above their normal levels, even cutting off some roads. "The Sanctuaries are closed," the local prefecture of the Haute-Garonne a ... read more


SHAKE AND BLOW
Scientist says Earth may once have been orbited by two moons

Dust hazard for Moon missions: scientists

NASA Seeks Information on Commercial Robotic Lunar Lander Capabilities

Orbiting astronaut controls robot on Earth, testing feasibility of CU-Boulder project on far side of the moon

SHAKE AND BLOW
NASA's next Mars rover will advance hunt for past life

Opportunity's Improbable Anniversary

Dry run for the 2020 Mars Mission

Opportunity Clocks Up 37 Kilometers Of Roving Mars

SHAKE AND BLOW
Space seeds could "benefit" traditional Chinese medicines

Kennedy Facilities Key to NASA's Transition

Voyager 1 Explores Final Frontier Of Our Solar Bubble

NASA's Voyager 1 approaches outer limit of solar system

SHAKE AND BLOW
China's space tracking ship Yuanwang-5 berths at Jakarta for replenishment

China plans to launch Tiangong-2 space lab around 2015

Twilight for Tiangong

China calls for international cooperation in manned space program

SHAKE AND BLOW
Russia to go ahead with space freighter launch

ISS technology to 'hear' potential leaks

Russian cosmonauts conduct space station tasks in spacewalk

Accelerating ISS Science With Upgraded Payload Operations Integration Center

SHAKE AND BLOW
Premature launch said likely cause of Russian rocket failure

Europe okays design for next-generation rocket

Kazakh PM orders to form govt commission to assess environmental impact from Proton crash

Analysis of telemetry data of crashed Proton rocket flight completed

SHAKE AND BLOW
Hubble Telescope reveals variation between hot extrasolar planet atmospheres

UCSB Astronomer Uncovers The Hidden Identity Of An Exoplanet

Gas-Giant Exoplanets Cling Close to Their Parent Stars

Astronomers Detect Three 'Super-Earths' in Nearby Star's Habitable Zone

SHAKE AND BLOW
Saarland University scientists reveal structure of a supercooled liquid

Laser and optical glass can store data for millions of years

Mainz laser system allows determination of atomic binding energy of the rarest element on earth

After millennia of mining, copper nowhere near 'peak'




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement