As the world watches Storm Harvey, more than 1,000 have been killed in floods in south Asia

Flooding: India, Bangladesh and Nepal have been ravaged by monsoon showers
AFP/Getty Images
Chloe Chaplain30 August 2017

As the world’s eye is turned towards devastation caused by Storm Harvey in Texas, more than 1,000 people have been killed in the worst flooding to strike India, Bangladesh and Nepal in years.

About 18 lives have been lost in the Texas storm - which has seen families swept away in their cars and buildings chest-deep in water.

But aid groups have issued a plea for people not to overlook the catastrophe caused by monsoon season in the South Asian subcontinent - as organisations scramble to gather funds for those without food or shelter.

An estimated 1,200 people have been killed and around 40 million have been affected by the rains that swept across northern India, southern Nepal and northern Bangladesh.

Bengal: More than 1000 people have been killed in the flooding
AFP/Getty Images

The floods sparked landslides, washed away thousands of homes and swathes of farmland and damaged roads and electric towers.

Bihar, India: Homes damaged by floodwaters
AFP/Getty Images

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged a relief fund of $78m to help those affected by the floods and rescue workers have issued a plea for further donations.

Mumbai: The city was brought to a standstill
REUTERS

They have warned that this years’ monsoon season, which lasts from June to September, has left thousands of villages cut off and left without food and clean water and caused India’s financial capital, Mumbai, to grind to a halt.

Mumbai: Residents were wading through the streets which were waist-deep in water
REUTERS

On Tuesday, two toddlers were among six people killed when the city was hit by more than half its average August rainfall in one day.

Monsoon: People help a woman to move her car through a water-logged road during rains in Mumbai
REUTERS

Police said a 45-year-old woman and an 18-month-old child - members of the same family - died after their home in the northeastern suburb of Vikhroli crumbled late on Tuesday. A 2-year-old girl died in a wall collapse.

India: flood effected villagers stay in temporary shelters along a highway after their houses were submerged
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The city received 5 inches of rain in 24 hours – transforming streets into rivers and leaving residents wading through waist-deep water.

Torrential: Rain showers in Mumbai
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Thousands of commuters were stranded in their offices overnight after public transport closed down, trains were halted and planes were grounded.

Bangladesh: Women carrying children through a flooded area
REUTERS

Every year Mumbai, home to about 20 million people and India’s two biggest stock exchanges, struggles to cope with the annual monsoon deluge - drawing criticism about its poor planning and weak infrastructure.

Rescue: Villagers in the eastern state of Bihar
REUTERS

More than half of the city’s population live in shantytowns, where weak and temporary buildings put them at increased risk in adverse weather conditions.

Aid: Indian flood effected villagers collect drinking water and relief food
AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, more than 500 people were killed. The government said thousands more have been forced to abandon their homes and are residing in nearby relief camps.

Relief: Temporary shelters for those whose homes have been destroyed in the flooding
AFP/Getty Images

The floods have destroyed the year’s farming in many parts of the state, which will cause a spike in unemployment.

Flood-affected: people collect relief supplies distributed by a local political organisation in Bangladesh
REUTERS

The United Nations has estimated that a further 150 people in Nepal, which borders Bihar, have been killed and said it is the worst flooding in the country in a decade.

Flooding: The human death toll is steadily rising across India, Nepal and Bangladesh
AFP/Getty Images

And in Bangladesh at least 132 people have died and more than 600,000 hectares of farmland have been damaged – with 10,000 hectares of crops completely washed away.

Medics: officials of the Jhargaon Public Health Centre travel on a boat to hold a medical camp in India's northeastern Assam state
AFP/Getty Images

Matthew Marek, the head of disaster response in Bangladesh for the Red Cross told AlJazeera: "I could not find a single dry patch of land.

"Farmers are left with nothing, not even with clean drinking water."

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