Photos: Devastating monsoon rains affect 41 million people in South Asia

While all eyes have been on the devastation from Hurricane Harvey in Texas, catastrophic floods have also been wreaking havoc more than 8,000 miles away in South Asia. Unusually heavy monsoon rains over the last several weeks have killed over 1,000 people across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. In all, over 41 million people have suffered the direct impact of the rain.

Already deeply impoverished rural communities have been devastated as landslides and rising waters have taken away homes — as well as people. In Nepal, villagers traveled on makeshift rafts to escape rising waters, and elephants were used to help rescue trapped tourists and residents.

The most recent city hit is Mumbai, India’s financial center, parts of which are under several feet of water. On Tuesday, traffic in parts of the city came to a near total halt, schools were closed, and the city’s largest hospital was partially flooded.

These images from the scenes of the flooding give you a sense of the scale of the catastrophe across the region.

Imtiyaz Shaikh /Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images

MANISH PAUDEL/AFP/Getty Images

AFP/Getty Images

STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images

AP Photo/Anupam Nath

PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images

AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade

AP Photo/Anupam Nath

Will you support Vox today?

We believe that everyone deserves to understand the world that they live in. That kind of knowledge helps create better citizens, neighbors, friends, parents, and stewards of this planet. Producing deeply researched, explanatory journalism takes resources. You can support this mission by making a financial gift to Vox today. Will you join us?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via