Floods caused by heavy monsoon rains over the weekend claimed two lives and washed away hundreds of flimsy huts, leaving nearly 2,000 people homeless in northern Bangladesh, relief officials and news reports said Monday. Rain-fed rivers burst their banks, swamping more than 200 farming villages in seven northern districts _ Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Kurigram, Sirajganj, Bogra and Nilphamari, relief officials said on condition of anonymity. Up to 200,000 people have been affected, many of them losing rice crops, said the officials, adding that many residents were relying on small boats for transportation after roads were inundated.
