<p><a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/india_monsoon;_ylt=AtSj6no.wyHoL51DEn6jPHwDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/india_monsoon;_ylt=AtSj6no.wyHoL51DEn6jPHwDW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl</a> </p>
<p>Hard to imagine.</p>
<p>My d. just left the area north and east of there on Monday…having had to cancel her previous trip to the area because the trains were washed out. </p>
<p>When my wife went over to pick up our adopted d. in Bombay in 1990, they had 25 inches of rain in 24 hours, and she had to wade through water in the streets chest deep.</p>
<p>Good thing your d left the area. Many places don’t get 25 inches in a year. 25 or more in a day…it must be just one big sheet of water coming down. Does this happen often in Bombay?</p>
<p>Not quite to that degree, though floods in the area during late June (first monsoon) are the norm. Some of the deaths (most of which have occurred outside the major cities) are a direct result of the building of the world’s largest dam complex, the Narmada, which has basically denuded massive parts of the countryside of trees and vegetation. Chemical companies have destroyed much of the rest. </p>
<p>The cycle of floods and droughts have been a normal fact of Indian life for millenia - what is new are the human “interventions” that have exacerbated their impact.</p>
<p>Anyhow, spoke with my d. last night, back at her home base in the South.</p>
<p>I ordered “The Color of Freedom”.</p>
<p>Great book! 
(Actually, it is, really!)</p>
<p>I just hope it is edited well. :)</p>
<p>My brother’s in-laws live in a flat near the beach. They are upper-middle-class but always have problems with flooding since they are on the ground floor. I need to call tonight. Thanks for reminding me.</p>
<p>Achat:</p>
<p>We have a friend whose brother is in Bombay. He was telling me yesterday that the authorities had jammed the phone lines, apparently to prevent people from taking advantage of the floods to engage in looting. He had been unable to contact his brother the day before, and was going to try again last night. I haven’t seen him today to ask whether he was successful. I hope you manage to get through.</p>
<p>Marite, thanks. My brother lives in Bangalore, though, so we’ll see if he’s heard from his in-laws…I’m slightly worried.</p>