Deadly floods hit Nigeria, India and Bangladesh

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello, 

Fatal floods have wreaked havoc across Nigeria, India and Bangladesh this week and Romania is dealing with the aftermath of one of its worst floods in 30 years.

Meanwhile, in the United States – where hurricane season is underway – the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency left his staff baffled by saying he was unaware that the country has a hurricane season. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security later said the comment was a joke.

Countries around the world are experiencing extreme weather events, including in Nigeria, where torrential rains have triggered deadly floods and widespread devastation.

Flooding in Nigeria's Niger State this week has killed 151 people and forced several thousand from their homes, an emergency official told Reuters.

Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, director of information at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, said over 500 households had been impacted and more than 3,000 people displaced.

Also on my radar today:

Rubble from a collapsed house is seen in Anguwar Hausawa Gangari community, due to the flooding that killed 151 people in Mokwa, Niger State Nigeria. REUTERS/Stringer

In India, at least 34 people have died in the nation's northeastern region after heavy floods caused landslides over the last four days, authorities and media said, and the weather department predicted more heavy rain.

More than a thousand tourists trapped in the Himalayan state of Sikkim were being evacuated on Monday, a government statement said, and army rescue teams were pressed into service in Meghalaya state to rescue more than 500 people stranded in flooded areas.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, at least four members of a family were killed in a landslide in the northeastern district of Sylhet, while hundreds of shelters have been opened across the hilly districts of Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachhari.

Authorities have warned of further landslides and flash floods, urging residents in vulnerable areas to remain alert.

Elsewhere, Romanian officials have been rerouting a stream in central Romania to prevent further flooding of the Praid salt mine, one of Europe's largest salt reserves and a popular tourist attraction, after parts of its floor caved in.

Authorities evacuated 45 households near mine areas at risk of collapse after the worst floods in 30 years in the central Romanian county of Harghita.

The floods are threatening to destroy the livelihoods of people in the town of Praid who have relied on tourism centred around the salt mine for decades, local authority officials said.

And finally, staff of the U.S. disaster agency FEMA were left baffled on Monday after its head David Richardson said he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

The remark was made during a briefing by Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's parent agency, said the comment was a joke and that FEMA is prepared for hurricane season.

The U.S. hurricane season officially began on Sunday and lasts through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast last week that this year's season is expected to bring as many as 10 hurricanes.

Representative Bennie Thompson, the senior Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee with oversight of FEMA, issued a statement to Reuters that read: "Suffice to say, disaster response is no joke. If you don't know what or when hurricane season is, you're not qualified to run FEMA. Get someone knowledgeable in there."

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson walks as the U.S. House of Representatives considers Trump's tax-cut bill on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., U.S. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Britain needs to cut industrial energy bills that are the highest among major advanced economies if its aspirations for a healthy manufacturing sector are to succeed, industry body Make UK, formerly the Engineering Employers' Federation, said.

Britain had the highest industrial energy prices out of any International Energy Agency member country in 2023, reflecting its dependence on gas and its role in setting electricity prices.

Ballerinas practise in the underground area of the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre amid ongoing attacks, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. REUTERS/Marko Djurica 

Art as a form of escapism, resilience and refuge in times of strife is the focus for today's spotlight as a dance troop in Ukraine has made a haven away from the sounds of war.

Three years on from Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, for many people in Kharkiv, the war and its unrelenting, inescapable proximity, takes a mental toll.

But there is a space in the city where – for a few fleeting hours – the war stops existing.

In the dark, brick-walled basement of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, a dance company has created a space protected from drones and bombs where audiences can lose themselves in performances of classic ballets.

Click here for the full Reuters special report.

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