41 People Killed in Floods After Severe Monsoon Rains in India

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/world/asia/india-monsoon-floods-gujarat-maharashtra.html

Version 0 of 1.

MUMBAI — Forty-one people have been killed in severe flooding brought by unexpectedly heavy monsoon rains that lashed part of the western Indian state of Gujarat, officials said Thursday.

Thousands of houses were destroyed in seven districts in the southwestern part of Gujarat, said Bipin Bhatt, the director of the state’s disaster management authority.

Helicopters have evacuated hundreds of people from the affected area since Wednesday, an Indian Air Force official said. Thousands more fled water-filled houses, though they were beginning to return on Thursday evening, Mr. Bhatt said.

Though the Indian Meteorological Department initially forecast weak monsoons last month, Gujarat and the neighboring state of Maharashtra have had abnormally high rainfall in June. A flood warning was also issued in parts of Jammu and Kashmir State, in the north, which endured deadly floods last year.