Rain and floods are wreaking havoc in many locations around the world this month. In Europe this week, flooding in southern Poland killed at least five people. Heavy rains that began in central Europe last weekend also are causing flooding in areas of Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, with rivers bursting their banks and inundating low-lying homes and roads, and cutting off villages.
In Sri Lanka, the government said 20 people have died in floods and mudslides after a week of powerful storms brought heavy rain across the country. In neighboring India, the death toll from the powerful cyclone Laila that slammed into the southeastern coast, toppling power lines and triggering landslides, has climbed to 23. In China, torrential rains caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon have swept across parts of southern China, toppling homes, destroying crops and killing at least 70 people, state media reported Tuesday. More flooding was expected.
In the United States, continuous rain over the past week has caused moderate flooding along several rivers in Missouri as well as flash floods that have killed two people. (28 images)
In Sri Lanka, the government said 20 people have died in floods and mudslides after a week of powerful storms brought heavy rain across the country. In neighboring India, the death toll from the powerful cyclone Laila that slammed into the southeastern coast, toppling power lines and triggering landslides, has climbed to 23. In China, torrential rains caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon have swept across parts of southern China, toppling homes, destroying crops and killing at least 70 people, state media reported Tuesday. More flooding was expected.
In the United States, continuous rain over the past week has caused moderate flooding along several rivers in Missouri as well as flash floods that have killed two people. (28 images)
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A woman holds on to the railing as she walks in the flood water at the banks of the River Oder in the eastern German city of Frankfurt/ Oder on the German-Polish border on May 19, 2010. The death toll from floods that have hit parts of central Europe rose to six in Poland Wednesday, while some 500 people were evacuated at Krakow after a dyke burst, authorities said. AFP / Getty Images / Theo Heimann
Police and fire men help a resident during floods in the city of Ostrava, north east Czech Republic, Monday, May 17, 2010. AP / Petr David Josek
Vlastimil Korejs pushes his bicycle while visiting a flooded cemetery in Bohumin, north east Czech Republic, Tuesday, May 18, 2010. AP / Petr David Josek
A dog looks out of the drain hole in the wall of a house in Rohatec, south-east of Czech Republic, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. AP / Vaclav Salek
People stand on the balcony looking out over the flood water surrounding their home, on the outskirts of the town of Sandomierz, south east Poland, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. AP / Czarek Sokolowski
An aerial view of the Ondava river flooded in Trebisov, eastern Slovakia, on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. AP / Peter Lazar
A man is helped out of water in a flooded area on the outskirts of the town of Tarnobrzeg, south east Poland, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. AP / Krzysztof Lokaj
People are evacuated from a flooded area on the outskirts of the town of Tarnobrzeg, south east Poland, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. AP / Krzysztof Lokaj
Fire brigade officers evacuate people from a flooded area on the outskirts of the town of Tarnobrzeg, south east Poland, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. AP / Krzysztof Lokaj
Surrounded by floods, a man and his dog are pictured atop the main entrance of their house in Sandomierz district, central Poland, on May 19,2010. AFP / Getty Images / Janek Skarzynski
Children celebrating their first communion watch from a bridge high water at Wisla river in Warsaw on May 20, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Janek Skarzynski
A huge hole is seen on the M1 motorway after it was collapsed as a result of flooding the Cuhai-Bakony stream near Gyoer, 124 kms west of Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. AP / Karoly Gyoeri
A local resident carries his child through a flooded street while sandbags protect houses in Miskolc, Hungary, Sunday, May 16, 2010. AP / Bela Szandelszky
Rescue workers stand on some sandbags of a temporary dam of Bodva stream nearby Szendro village as flood water breaks the dam in northeastern Hungary about 200 kms from Budapest on May 17, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Peter Kohalmi
Worker of the water management authority rests on a broken dike defense, which flooded the village of Szendro, northeastern Hungary, Monday, May 17, 2010. AP / Bela Szandelszky
A hospital staff looks at a flooded ward in the city hospital of Szikszo, northeastern Hungary, Monday, May 17, 2010. Officials in Hungary and Serbia say that three people have died as a result of flooding caused by heavy rainfall. AP / Bela Szandelszky
An elderly woman leaves her home to bring drinking water as she steps over some sandbags around her house in flood water of Szendro village, northeastern Hungary about 200 kms from Budapest on May 17, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Peter Kohalmi
A local resident carries a fish, just caught on a flooded street, in the village of Felsohamor, Hungary, Sunday, May 16, 2010. AP / Bela Szandelszky
A Sri Lankan man carries his catch at the sea front as it rains in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, May 21, 2010. AP / Eranga Jayawardena
A Sri Lankan man walks through a flooded road in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, May 17, 2010. Heavy monsoon showers caused floods in many parts of the country. AP / Eranga Jayawardena
An Indian rickshaw driver pushes his vehicle through floodwaters in Chennai on May 19, 2010, during heavy rain ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Laila. A "severe" cyclone packing winds of up to 125 kilometres an hour closed in on India's southeast coast as thousands of residents evacuated their homes fearing major storm damage. AFP / Getty Images
A man covers himself with a plastic sheet as a shield from the rain, as an electricity pole lies submerged in water, in cyclone-affected Prakasham District, about 350 kilometers (219 miles) from Hyderabad, in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, Friday, May 21, 2010. AP / Mahesh Kumar A
Commuters travel through flooded roads after heavy rain, in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, May 16, 2010. AP / Mahesh Kumar A
Villagers comb the remains of a house collapsed by a flash flood on Thursday May 6, 2010 in Shuiche township of Xinhua county in south China's Hunan province. Heavy rain and wind swept across southern China, damaging thousands of houses and killing dozens of people. AP
A villager carries a television set found in the rubble after a flood in Xinyuan, central China's Hunan province on May 15, 2010. Torrential rains caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon have swept across parts of southern China, toppling homes, destroying crops and killing at least 70 people, while more flooding are expected. AFP / Getty Images
Flood waters from the flooding Mississippi River block the entrance of the President Casino in St. Louis on May 15, 2010, causing the casino to close on Sunday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch / Laurie Skrivan
Dustin McCoy stands on the hood of his car that stalled in flood waters on Penn Avenue near Memorial Road, Sunday, May 16, 2010 in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoman / Sarah Phipps
Parents of missing Jeremy Perez wait holding each other as rescue crews search the Guadalupe River on May 14, 2010. Perez was reported missing after friends lost sight of him while swimming in the river earlier in the day. At least two people died as their vehicles were swept into flood waters in the storms across Texas. Victoria Advocate / Jennifer Ross
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