Great Photo Journalism

Too much of a basic human need

Water is essential to life but in such places as India, Pakistan, China, and Thailand deluges have once again caused misery. Typhoon Nesat hit the Philippines earlier this week on its way to south China. In Pakistan, more than 5 million people have been affected by recent flooding, according to the aid agency Oxfam. Pakistan is still struggling to recover from the devastating monsoon rains in 2010. -- Lloyd Young(36 photos total)

A village boy sits on the banks of the swelling Daya River, near Pipli village, about 25 kilometers from the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneshwar Sept. 9. The flood situation in Orissa state worsened with the release of more water downstream from Hirakud dam, according to a news agency. A high alert has been sounded in 11 districts of the state. (Biswaranjan Rout/Associated Press)

2

A displaced Pakistani man gestures to Pakistani army officers as they deliver rice and sugar to flood victims, in Badin District, in Pakistan's Sindh province Sept. 24. In Pakistan's Sindh province alone, the floods have killed over 220 people, damaged or destroyed some 665,000 homes and displaced more than 1.8 million people, according to the United Nations. Neighboring Baluchistan province has also been affected. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

3

Residents carry a pig down a flooded street during typhoon Nesat in San Mateo, Rizal, east of Manila on Sept. 27. Typhoon Nesat brought the Philippine capital to a near standstill with its vast rain band also flooding remote farms and vicious winds tearing roofs off buildings in coastal towns. (Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images) #

4

Floods cover a major highway heading north from Bangkok in Sept. 12 in Saraburi, Thailand. Floods continue to ravage areas further south, with 5 people dying after a two-story apartment building sunk when a foundation collapsed due to rain and hillside runoff. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) #

5

Surging waves hit against the breakwater in Udono in a port town of Kiho, Mie Prefecture, central Japan, Sept. 21. A powerful typhoon was bearing down on Japan's tsunami-ravaged northeastern coast approaching a nuclear power plant crippled in that disaster and prompting calls for the evacuation of more than a million people. ( #

6

A resident carries his son while crossing on waist deep floodwaters brought by Typhoon Nesat, locally known as Pedring, that hit the Tanza town of Malabon city, north of Manila Sept. 27. Typhoon Nesat crossed the Philippines main island leaving behind at least 7 dead after it lashed crop-growing provinces and brought the capital to a near standstill as it flooded roads and villages and cut power supplies. (Reuters) #

7

People clean up mud after flood waters receded on Sept. 20 in Quxian County, Sichuan Province of China. At least 13 people were killed, 18 others were missing and 1,320,000 people were deeply affected in rain-triggered floods from last Friday in Sichuan province. (ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images) #

8

Family members, displaced by floods, use a tarp to escape a monsoon downpour while taking shelter at a make-shift camp for flood victims in the Badin district in Pakistan's Sindh province Sept. 14. Floods this year have destroyed or damaged 1.2 million houses and flooded 4.5 million acres since late last month, according to officials and Western aid groups. More than 300,000 people have been made homeless and about 200 have been killed. (Akhtar Soomro/Reuters) #

9

Rescuers and volunteers search for the body of the fourth fatality in Baguio, northern Philippines on Aug. 29 after an avalanche of rubbish at the city dump at the height of Typhoon Nanmadol. Super-typhoon Nanmadol left at least 16 people dead after hitting the Philippines, and the toll is expected to rise as hopes of finding those missing fade, the civil defense chief said. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images) #

10

Vehicles are piled on top of one another on muddy ground after Typhoon Talas caused flash flooding in the town of Nachikatsuura, Wakayama prefecture, in western Japan on Sept. 5. Typhoon Talas cut across western Japan late on September 3, leaving at least 31 people dead and 50 missing after heavy rains and fierce winds. (Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images) #

11

A food vendor gives change to a customer along a flooded street in the town of Sena, Ayutthaya province Sept 13. Weeks of heavy monsoon rains and a tropical storm in Thailand have caused widespread floods and mudslides, killing at least 84 people since late July. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters) #

12

Pakistani villagers evacuate household items in a flooded area of Umerkot on Sept. 16. The United Nations said that it was stepping up aid to Pakistan, where monsoon floods have killed 270 people, affected over 5.5 million others and destroyed 1.1 million homes. (AFP/Getty Images) #

13

A boy looks from the balcony of his home Sept. 19 after flood waters swamped Guangan, southwest China's Sichuan province, as unprecedented rains over the past week have swamped parts of northern, central and southwest China. Heavy rains and floods across China have left 57 people dead, dozens of others missing and hundreds injured, while more than a million residents have been evacuated from their homes, the government said. (AFP/Getty Images) #

14

Rescue workers transport evacuees in a boat through floodwaters in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture, in central Japan on Sept. 20. Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan were warned to leave their homes as an approaching typhoon brought heavy rain and fears of landslides and flash flooding. (Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images) #

15

A paramedic gives treatment to a Pakistani flood affected child at a hospital in Tando Allahyar in flood-hit Sindh province on Sept. 26. Some 2 million Pakistanis have fallen ill from diseases since monsoon rains left the southern region under several feet of water, the country's disaster authority said. More than 350 people have been killed and over eight million people have been affected this year by floods that officials say are worse in parts of Sindh province than last year, when the country saw its worst ever disaster. (Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images) #

16

A villager wades through flooded water carrying his bicycle near Megha village, 34 miles from the eastern Indian city Bhubaneswar, India on Sept. 11. Around 700,000 people have been affected by floods in 14 districts of Orissa. (Biswaranjan Rout/Associated Press) #

17

Displaced Pakistanis wash their belongings in a flooded field in Mirpur Khas in Pakistan's Sindh province, after fleeing their flood-hit homes Sept. 23. In Pakistan's Sindh province alone, the floods have killed over 220 people, damaged or destroyed some 665,000 homes and displaced more than 1.8 million people, according to the United Nations. Neighboring Baluchistan province has also been affected. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

18

Residents are evacuated from a flood zone Sept. 19 in Guang'an, China's Sichuan province. Heavy rains that have unleashed flooding across southwest China and left at least 14 people dead will continue to pound the region in the coming days, the country's meteorological agency said. (Associated Press) #

19

Policemen and residents run as waves from a tidal bore surge past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River in Haining, Zhejiang province Aug. 31. As Typhoon Nanmadol approaches eastern China, the tides and waves in Qiantang River recorded its highest level in 10 years, local media reported. (China Daily/Reuters) #

20

Indian villagers with their cattle cross flood waters on a boat at Kasimpurchak near Danapur Diara in Patna, India, Sept. 27. Monsoon rains destroyed mud huts and flooded wide swaths of northern and eastern India in recent days, leaving hundreds of thousands marooned by raging waters, officials said. (Aftab Alam Siddiqui/Associated Press) #

21

Flood water covers the roadway Sept. 9 in Bloomsburg, Pa., after remnants from tropical Storm Lee continued to produce heavy rain overnight. (Mel Evans/Associated Press) #

22

Unidentified teens walk through the high water and waves at the Mandeville, La. lakefront of Lake Pontchartrain from Tropical Storm Lee, on Sept. 4. The vast, soggy storm system spent hours during the weekend hovering in the northernmost Gulf of Mexico. Its slow crawl to the north gave more time for its drenching rain bands to pelt a wide swath of vulnerable coastline, raising the flood threat. (Ted Jackson/Associated Press/The Times-Picayune) #

23

Tom Harris hugs James Aaron after Aaron tears up when he saw the flood damage to his home in the Flats area of Plains, Pa. Sept. 10. The water lines went a few feet up his roof, tearing down parts of his ceiling, and both his front and rear porch have separated from the home. Tens of thousands of evacuated residents are being allowed to return home Saturday as rivers swollen by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee recede. (Aimee Dilger/Associated Press) #

24

Lumber at the Your Building Center on East Ninth Street in Bloomsburg, Pa., floats on flood water from the Susquehanna River inside of the fenced in area on the property Sept. 9 as the river crest at a record level of 32.75 feet. (Jimmy May/Assocaited Press) #

25

Cecil Flemming tries to maneuver his wheelchair through the waters on the Mandeville, La. lakefront of Lake Pontchartrain after waters crashed over the seawall from Tropical Storm Lee Sept. 4. The vast, soggy storm system spent hours during the weekend hovering in the northernmost Gulf of Mexico. Its slow crawl to the north gave more time for its drenching rain bands to pelt a wide swath of vulnerable coastline, raising the flood threat. (Ted Jackson/Associated Press/The Times-Picayune) #

26

Pakistani men sit on the rubble of a house, surrounded by floods water in Badin district near Hyderabad, Pakistan Sept. 18. The floods caused by heavy rains have killed more than 200 people, made about 200,000 people homeless and left 4.2 million acres of agriculture land inundated with water, authorities said. (Shakil Adil/Associated Press) #

27

A displaced Pakistani boy, lies on a bed under a mosquito net, while he and others take refuge on a roadside after fleeing their homes in Tando Allah Yar Sept. 20. Flood victims camped out near inundated fields and crowded hospitals on Monday as authorities and international aid groups struggled to respond to Pakistan's second major bout of flooding in just over a year. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

28

A flood effected farmer dry chilies crop to earn his living in Hyderabad, Pakistan on Sept. 23. In Pakistan's Sindh province alone, the floods have killed over 200 people, damaged or destroyed some 665,000 homes and displaced more than 1.8 million people, according to the United Nations. Neighboring Baluchistan province has also been affected. (Pervez Masih/Associated Press) #

29

A displaced Pakistani boy stands on a narrow path surrounded by flood water in Badin District, in Pakistan's Sindh province Sept. 24. In Pakistan's Sindh province alone, the floods have killed over 220 people, damaged or destroyed some 665,000 homes and displaced more than 1.8 million people, according to the United Nations. Neighboring Baluchistan province has also been affected. (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press) #

30

A resident carries a gas tank as he evacuates his house amid rising flood waters in San Mateo, Rizal, east of Manila Sept. 27. Typhoon Nesat, locally known as Pedring, pounded the Philippines' main island lashing crop-growing provinces and bringing the capital to a near standstill as it disrupted power supplies and closed financial markets, government offices, transport and schools. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters) #

31

A girl, displaced by floods, carries pots as she walks on the trunk of a tree floating in the water near her home in the Badin district of Pakistan's Sindh province Sept. 23. The latest floods, triggered by monsoon rains, have killed more than 230 people, destroyed or damaged 1.2 million houses and flooded 4.5 million acres since late last month, officials and Western aid groups say. More than 300,000 people have been moved to shelters. Some 800,000 families hit by last year's floods are still homeless. Aid groups have warned of a growing risk of fatal diseases. (Akhtar Soomro/Reuters) #

32

Residents living beside a swollen river walk through floods in Navotas, north of Manila, Philippines Sept. 27 as Typhoon Nesat hits the country. Massive flooding hit the Philippine capital as typhoon winds and rains isolated the historic old city where residents waded in waist-deep waters, dodging tree branches and debris. (Aaron Favila/Associated Press) #

33

A resident carries a potted plant through floodwaters in Ang Thong province, 100 km (62 miles) north of Bangkok, Sept. 16. Floods caused by heavy rains during the monsoon in northern regions have killed up to 92 people in Thailand since July. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters) #

34

A man washes himself with floodwater in Ayutthaya province Sept. 20. Monsoon rains, floods and mudslides in Thailand have killed at least 112 people since July. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters) #

35

Fishermen stand at the scene of a cargo ship washed ashore at the sea port in Navotas city, north of Manila Sept. 27 after Typhoon Nesat, locally known as Pedring, hit the capital, Manila. Typhoon Nesat pounded the Philippines' main island lashing crop-growing provinces and bringing the capital to a near standstill as it disrupted power supplies and closed financial markets, government offices, transport and schools. At least one person, a 22 month-old boy, died in the storm, and four people were reported missing. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters) #