Powerful monsoon rains struck India, Nepal, and Bangladesh over the weekend, leaving more than 173 people dead and millions more displaced from their homes.
The death toll is expected to rise as disaster relief teams scour the countryside for people in danger, according to Al Jazeera. Throughout the three countries, people have been left without food and water, health care access has been limited, and education systems are likely to be extensively disrupted, three issues that are central to Global Citizen’s campaigns.
The rains caused rivers throughout the region to flood and triggered destructive landslides that together wiped out homes, submerged roads, and destroyed key infrastructure.
In Nepal, more than half a million people have been displaced and at least 80 have died.
Parts of the country are without electricity, cell service, and freshwater, and vital croplands were destroyed.
The army is currently passing out fresh water and grains. The Nepal Red Cross said that the humanitarian crisis could affect more than 29 million people within the country.
"In many parts of the country there is a scarcity of safe drinking water creating a high risk of health hazards," spokesman Dibya Raj Poudel told the AFP news agency.
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"Several villages and settlements are unreachable,” he said. “Telecommunications, mobile phones are still not working so it difficult to give a full assessment."
In Bangladesh, 27 people have died and 600,000 are displaced. More than 368,000 people have taken refuge in temporary shelters, according to Bangladesh's disaster management minister, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury.
In Assam, India, a city in the northeast, 2.5 million people have been displaced and 18 have died.
To the west in Himachal Pradesh, 46 people were killed in buses when landslides struck, according to ABC News.
Read More: Nepal's Recovery Is Still Fragile 2 Years After Devastating Earthquake
Monsoons generally have a disastrous impact on countries in South Asia. In 2005, for instance, monsoon rains killed 500 people in India.
These violent storms often expose infrastructural problems and gaps in disaster relief programs.
The relief effort in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh is just beginning and will likely go on for many months.
Monsoon flood toll expected to rise as rescuers in #India and #Nepal search for dozens believed lost under mud and in submerged villages pic.twitter.com/lisIX6I8zU
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 14, 2017
#UPDATE At least 165 people have died as monsoon floods swept across #Nepal, #India and #Bangladeshhttps://t.co/nxX0CKCQjT
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 14, 2017
#Nepal Suffers from Monsoon, Immediate rescue, and relief for the Flood Victims needed. #PrayForNepalhttps://t.co/5DYEeR1nzg
— Happylifehacks (@happylifehacks) August 14, 2017