The death toll from flooding in southern India rose to 222 on Monday after days of torrential rain left vast tracts of land devastated and displaced millions of people, officials said, according to AP. The floods have submerged scores of villages in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states, disrupted transportation and communication links and forced whole villages to seek shelter in crowded government-run relief camps. In Karnataka, the worst-hit of the two states, 172 people have died and more than 50,000 are staying in relief camps. Hundreds of thousands more have sought shelter in the homes of friends and relatives, R.V. Jagdish, a government spokesman said. In neighboring Andhra Pradesh, 50 people have died and around 1.5 million have been displaced and were sheltering in 100 relief camps, said state chief minister K. Rosaiah. Medical teams have been rushed to the relief camps in both states, the officials said, amid fear of disease spreading in the crowded shelters.
