UTTARKASHI, INDIA (July 26, 2013) – Relief teams sponsored by the Hindustani Covenant Church (HCC) walk up to nine miles through flood-devastated terrain to deliver supplies to people who lost their homes in a monsoon that struck this area over several days in June and killed more than 5,000 people.
“Even though it is more than a month after the calamity, there are still landslides and heavy rainfall,” said Steven David, HCC moderator.
Earlier this month, David reported, “The houses of 30 families out of 114 have completely been washed away. There is no sign that their houses existed in the village before the flood.”
Remaining homes had up to a foot of mud covering their floors, David said. All of the crops were destroyed.
A CNN-IBN reporter earlier this month said, “India has never seen this kind of tragedy. It’s worse than the tsunami (of 2004). The tsunami killed many, but it came and was gone. Here, the bigger challenge has come after the devastation with the rescue operation; to bring people stranded in the middle of nowhere to a safer zone.”
The church is continuing its relief efforts through arranging medical camps, providing counseling and dry rations, including blankets. The medical camps have at least one doctor and paramedical staff.
The north India state of Uttarakhand, where Uttarkashi is located, has suffered terribly from weather-related disasters in recent years. Severe drought in 2008-2009 struck the state, and then severe flooding and landslides overwhelmed the state in 2010.
