disaster relief
India's Worst Flood in a Century
- Young flood victim
- Lined up for medical care
- Flood ravaged home
- Helping flood victims
- Receiving medical care
- Relief kit from OB India
- Families receive relief kits
- Relief kit distribution
- Grateful for relief kit
CBN.com – INDIA – Saritha huddled with her two children near their meager hut as they watched in horror at the rising water all around them. The raindrops fell in sheets, making it difficult to see far beyond her neighbors' homes. It had been raining for days. When the intensity of the rain would die down, they watched in the distance as whole huts were swept away and families' clothing, beds, kitchens, walls, and cookware cluttered the brown murkiness that grew closer to them. She heard the local police announcing through megaphones to move to safer areas, but Saritha stood like a pillar of stone, not knowing where "safer" would be. Water was everywhere. Where would she go? Eventually, a kind neighbor urged her to bring her children to higher ground where many residents had gathered. They waited there for days for the water to subside. When Saritha and her children walked the long trip back to their home, their eyes burned with tears as they saw that all of the homes, including theirs, had been washed away in the flood.
Saritha's village was one of many to disappear in this tragic flood. Southern India was pelted with weeks of torrential rains in late September and early October, 2009. They suffered the worst flash floods in over 100 years. Water as high as 15 feet flooded many districts, took the lives of over 200 people and left scores of residents missing. The floods destroyed standing crops and left 1.5 million people homeless across the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. CBN Operation Blessing India teams who rushed to the flood afffected areas said that many residential areas in Kurnool, Mahabubnagar and Vijayawada districts of Andhra Pradesh, were submerged underwater. The Army and Air Force rescued 25,000 people who were marooned by floodwaters that left them scrambling to higher ground, rooftops, wherever they could go to avoid being swept away by the rising water.
Operation Blessing India brought hope to many families by bringing medical teams and disaster relief kits containing staple items such as rice, lentils, cooking oil, cooking utensils, sleeping mats, and clothing. The medical teams treated 4,660 people as of this writing in mid-October, 2009; and are still on location anticipating meeting continued medical needs as the area strives to stabilize. As well, 12,500 food packets and 875 relief kits have been distributed as of this writing. The Operation Blessing India team plans to continue these efforts and begin fogging in malaria prone villages, provide school supplies for children, and coordinate with government and other NGO's for rehabilitation of those affected by this disaster.
God uses the donations given to CBN to support medical missions, disaster relief, and other humanitarian projects across the globe through Operation Blessing and the CBN regional offices. When you partner with CBN, you are agreeing with us that God would want us to help Saritha and others who were devastated by this flood and continue to tell the whole world about his love for us through television broadcasts and counseling centers. Please consider supporting the global outreach efforts of CBN - Become a CBN partner.
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