868 lives lost due to rains, floods in 7 Indian states during monsoon

As many as 868 people have lost their lives, 247 of them in Kerala, due to rains, floods and landslides in seven states during the monsoon season so far, the Home Ministry said on Friday.

According to the Home Ministry's National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), 247 people have died in Kerala, where 2,11,000 people in 14 districts have been badly hit by the rains and floods and over 32,500 hectares of crops damaged.

As many as 191 people have died in Uttar Pradesh, 183 people in West Bengal, 139 in Maharashtra, 52 in Gujarat, 45 in Assam and 11 in Nagaland.

A total of 33 people have also been missing, 28 in Kerala and five in West Bengal, while 274 have been injured in rain-related incidents in the states.

The deluge and rains have hit 26 districts in Maharashtra, 23 in Assam, 23 in West Bengal, 14 in Kerala, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Nagaland and 10 in Gujarat.

Photos: Trump hugs children, serves food in Houston as city fights back

resident Donald Trump tried on the role of “comforter-in-chief” on Saturday, playing with children in an evacuation centre and passing out food and supplies to those in need after Hurricane Harvey’s assault on Houston.

Trump, dealing with the first natural disaster of his 8-month-old presidency, comforted victims and thanked volunteers and first responders after being criticized earlier in the week for not showing sufficient empathy on his first trip to the storm-battered Texas coast.

Trump, 71, was joined by his wife, Melania, as he passed out food and hugged, kissed and played with children at the “kid zone” in Houston’s NRG Center, a 700,000-square-foot (65,000 square meters) facility that was turned in to the city’s largest emergency shelter.

Trump appeared relaxed as he posed for photographs with volunteers and chatted with those relocated to the shelter alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
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