1.

BANGLADESHI FLOODS

At its peak on August 11 2017, the equivalent to almost a week's worth of average rainfall
during the summer monsoon season was dumped across parts of Bangladesh in the space of a
few hours, according to the country's Meteorological Department, forcing villagers in low-
lying northern areas to grab what few possessions they could carry and flee their homes in
search of higher ground.
And still the rains keep coming. In Bangladesh alone, floods have so far claimed the lives of
142 people, and impacted over 8.5 million.
In Beraberi, one of numerous island villages know as "chars" dotted along the Jamuna River,
entire homes have been washed away, and crops and food supplies -- including livestock --
all but wiped out. When aid workers carrying relief parcels from the IFRC arrived by
helicopter earlier this week, villagers described the rains as the "worst in living memory."
2. TEMPERATURES REACH A RECORD HIGH IN PAKISTAN

Mohenjo-daro, a ruined city in what is now Pakistan that contains the last traces of a 4,000-
year-old civilisation that flourished on the banks of the river Indus, today entered the modern
history books after government meteorologists recorded a temperature of 53.7C (129F).
Temperatures in the nearest town, Larkana, have been only slightly lower in the last week,
with 53C recorded last Wednesday. As the temperatures peaked, four people died, including
a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder and an elderly woman. Dozens are said to have
fainted.
3. BURMESE CYCLONES

Almost 4,000 people have died and another 3,000 are missing after a cyclone ripped across
Burma, virtually flattening two towns and damaging more than 20,000 homes.

Cyclone Nargis, which packed winds of 120mph and torrential deluges, struck with little
warning on Saturday. Initial estimates put the death toll in the low hundreds. But the body
count rose sharply as rescue workers reached isolated towns and villages flattened by the
severe tropical storm.

"The confirmed number is 3,934 dead, 41 injured and 2,879 missing within the Yangon and
Irrawaddy divisions," state-run television said today.

The death toll is likely to climb further as the authorities slowly make contact with islands
and low-lying villages in the delta, the rice bowl of former Burma.
4. DROUGTS IN SRI LANKA

Several suicides have been directly attributed to the effects of the drought in Sri Lanka, the
Asia Pacific Daily (APD) news quoted the United Nations (UN) office in Sri Lanka as
saying. Since late 2016, Sri Lanka has been experiencing a lack of rainfall which has
developed into what is believed to be the worst drought in 40 years, with significant impacts
on the economic activity, livelihoods and lives of communities. (As of Tuesday, a total of
1,927,069 people were estimated to be affected by the drought across 17 districts, according
to the Disaster Management Centre in Sri Lanka.) In March 2017, one-quarter of households
were seriously concerned about access to drinking water with levels of water available for
general household use declining. According to assessments in August by the World Food
Programme (WFP) and Ministry of Disaster Management, 45% of communities have
reported that their closest reservoirs are now empty, with overall water levels in reservoirs at
18% in the beginning of August compared to 47% this time last year.