GAUHATI, India (AP) -- Raging floodwaters fed by monsoon rains have inundated more than 2,000 villages in northeast India, sweeping away homes and leaving hundreds of thousands of people marooned Friday. At least 27 people were killed, but the toll was expected to rise.
About 1 million people have had to evacuate their homes as the floods from the swollen Brahmaputra River -- one of Asia's largest -- swamped 2,084 villages across most of Assam state, officials said.
Assam's flooded capital of Gauhati was hit by mudslides that buried three people. Many of the city's 2 million residents were negotiating the submerged streets in rubber dinghies and small wooden boats. Most businesses were closed.
Officials have counted 27 people dead so far, but the toll is expected to be much higher as unconfirmed casualty reports mount. Many of the victims so far have drowned, including five people whose boat capsized amid choppy waves.
"We never thought the situation would turn this grim when the monsoon-fed rivers swelled a week ago," said Nilomoni Sen Deka, an Assam government minister.
Follow @sacbee_theframe
A Hindu holy man dries a piece of cloth on the banks of the River Ganges as monsoon clouds hover over in Allahabad, India, Thursday, June 28, 2012. Monsoon rains that hits India usually from June to September are crucial for farmers whose crops feed hundreds of millions of people. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Villagers row past a flooded house at Boramari, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. Raging floodwaters fed by monsoon rains have inundated more than 2,000 villages in northeast India, sweeping away homes and leaving hundreds of thousands of people marooned Friday. More than 20 people were killed, but the toll was expected to rise. AP / Anupam Nath
A young Indian boy rows a boat as he takes his family members to a safer place in the flood affected village of Boramari, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Young Indian children use a raft, made of banana plants, to wade through flood waters at Burhaburhi village, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A young Indian boy rows a raft made of banana plant as he takes his family to a safer place in the flooded village of Boramari, about 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A family rides a raft made of banana plant as they search for dry land in the flooded village of Burhaburhi village, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Local residents move their belongings to a safer place from flooded areas in Morigaon district of Assam, India on June 26, 2012. ZUMA24.com / Xinhua
A flood affected child watches from inside her submerged house at Boramari village about 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A family takes shelter at Boramari about 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
An Indian woman cooks food at her makeshift tent on a road near the flood-destroyed houses at Burhaburhi village about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Shukur Ali, 75, catches fish in flooded waters at Burhaburhi village about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Young Indian girls wade through flood waters at Burhaburhi village about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
An Indian man takes a break before making his way through flood waters at Burhaburhi village, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A young Indian girl feeds her brother at a makeshift hut built above flood waters in Burhaburhi village, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A flood affected family wait at a shelter in Burhaburhi village about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Flood affected villagers take shelter in a school at Boramari village about 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A flood affected Indian man puts his daughter in a raft as they leave for safer place, in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Flooding in Assam on Tuesday turned grim with most of the rivers breaching embankments and inundating new areas all over Brahmaputra Valley. Road links have been cut in many places, while the death toll due to the current wave of flood has mounted to 11 with one more casualty in Dibrugarh district. AP / Anupam Nath
Flood affected people carry a gas cylinder on a makeshift banana raft as flood water is being pumped across a protective boom, in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
People use a raft made of banana plants to wade through flood waters in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
A man sits with his son atop a compound wall as rescue workers paddle through flood waters in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Rescue members help an elderly woman to into a raft after flood waters entered her home in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Rickshaw drivers ferry a woman through flood waters in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
People prepare to leave their house following an inundation of flood water in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 26, 2012. AP / Anupam Nath
Young Indian boys run for cover on the shore of the Arabian sea during a monsoon shower in Mumbai, India, Thursday, June 28, 2012. AP / Rafiq Maqbool
An Indian man holds an umbrella on the shore of the Arabian sea during a monsoon shower in Mumbai, India, Thursday, June 28, 2012. AP / Rafiq Maqbool
A Hindu holy man returns home after work as monsoon clouds hover over in Allahabad, India, Thursday, June 28, 2012. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
Indian washers try to fold a plastic sheet during a monsoon shower in Mumbai, India, Sunday, June 24, 2012. AP / Rafiq Maqbool
Children play as monsoon clouds hover in the sky, at Peepal village in Allahabad, India, Monday, June 18, 2012. AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh
An Indian girl dries a sari following rains as monsoon clouds are seen over the skyline on Marine Drive along the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, India, Saturday, June 16, 2012. AP / Kevin Frayer
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.