97-year-old woman rescued from floods in India on a banana raft

During severe floods in India's Assam state, family members carried 97-year-old Lokada Duarh to safety on a makeshift raft made from banana trunks.

At midnight on July 19, when floodwater swept into Charing village, there was no boat, rescue team or neighbor available to help Lokada, who could barely get out of bed. Her daughter-in-law, Bornali Barua, and her husband placed her on a makeshift raft made from banana trunks and carried her through the strong current to a shelter.

The water was 90–120 centimeters deep, and the current was so strong that they had to hold each other's hands and move slowly with the help of sticks. After an hour, the three reached a temporary shelter set up along the national highway.

The floods destroyed not only their home but also Bornali Barua's farm, which she had built through years of hard work. She had previously worked as a journalist, started raising livestock in 2016 and was named Assam's “Best Livestock Farmer” in 2019.

Her farm had nearly 300 goats, 500 ducks, 1,000 chickens and fish. The floods killed or swept away much of her livestock, including 300 ducks, 300 chickens and many goats. A feed-making machine, furniture, laptops, vehicles and the family's book collection were also damaged.

Although floods are common in Assam, experts say in recent years their frequency, intensity and scale have been exceeding historical norms They say the causes include heavy rainfall, sediment entering rivers, shrinking forests, hill cutting and infrastructure that is not adequately adapted to flooding.

The Barua family lived in a temporary shelter for 10 days. There was also no electricity or mobile service for several days. Nevertheless, strangers helped the family by preparing food, cleaning and caring for the goats that survived.

Bornali and her family are now living at a neighbor's home near their destroyed house. They plan to return home, and Bornali does not want to leave the village.

She has realized that if heavy rains occur again, they need to raise the foundation of the house, build a special platform as a safe place and stock up on food and drinking water in advance.

“We need to learn to live with floods,” she says.