Tuesday, October 6, 2009

India’s worst flood: Is this climate change?

Praveen Donthi and Aurangzeb Naqshbandi in the Hindustan Times (India): The catastrophe was unprecedented — flooding across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh was caused by unpredictable rainfall up to 600 per cent higher than normal, in a river basin that is the driest in the country. As water levels receded on Tuesday after 280 deaths, and authorities scrambled to reach aid to a region where some 2.5 lakh homes are damaged, and millions affected, experts wonder if we are witnessing a manifestation of climate change.

…Thousands rushed to safety, trying to avoid death — and, in some areas, crocodiles. But others refused to leave. “I stayed back only because of my two buffaloes,” said G. Raghavulu (35), an agricultural labourer from Pamurlanka village in Andhra Pradesh.

Three days of unprecedented rainfall in the Krishna and Godavari river basins. Some 700 mm over a week. “About 400 mm of rain took place in three days. This has never happened before in India Meteorological Department (IMD) records,” S.P. Kakran, senior official in the ministry of water resources, told HT. The IMD has measured rain since 1901….

Satellite view of the Krishna and Godarivi Rivers

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