Millions displaced as floods recede in south Asia

Updated Sun. Aug. 5 2007 9:45 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

South Asian communities across Canada are scrambling for information and praying for millions of displaced flood victims in India and Bangladesh.

Dipali Narvankar, a newlywed attending university in Winnipeg, couldn't contact her husband for nearly a week as a result of the monsoon-driven flooding.

"He was stuck in his office for five days. After five minutes, he couldn't come out because the water level was up to neck," she told CTV Winnipeg on Sunday. Rescuers finally tied a rope to his wrist and pulled him out, she said.

An estimated 289 people have died as a result of the flooding so far.

The Canadian Red Cross has started a national fund-raising effort.

"Half of the country in Bangladesh is affected. It is literally under water," the Red Cross's Charlie Musoka told CTV News. "We have to provide as much assistance as possible in terms of clean water and emergency food."

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