Hundreds displaced as fresh floods hit parts of western Nepal

Aug 16, 2007, 4:43 GMT

Kathmandu - Hundreds of people have been forced out of their homes once again after fresh floods hit parts of western Nepal, news reports said Thursday.

The new wave of flooding came just weeks after the region was hit by a devastating deluge that displaced tens of thousands of people. Many of the displaced people only recently started returning to their homes.

At least 500 families were displaced from their homes in about a dozen villages in Banke and Bardiya districts, about 450 kilometres west of the Nepalese capital, independent Kantipur Television reported.

Part of the regional town of Nepalgunj was under water after the town received over 150 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period on Wednesday.

The town has seen some of the worst flooding in recent years.

The flooding followed heavy monsoon rains in western Nepal since Sunday, causing the major rivers to burst their banks.

The television station said parts of the two districts were cut off from rest of the country after roads were submerged.

The Nepal Red Cross society said immediate rescue and relief efforts were impossible to many parts of the districts due to destroyed road infrastructure, the television report said.

The country's meteorological department said rains in western Nepal this year were the highest since it started maintaining records 35 years ago.

It said some places in the region had received as much as 400 millimetres of rains in 72 hour period since Sunday.

In late July, heavy monsoon rains led to flooding across the southern Nepalese plains. Government estimates said over 250,000 people were affected in almost half of Nepal 75 districts.

Over 105 people have now died in flash floods and landslides since monsoons began in June. The monsoon rains usually last until the middle of September.