Photos: India flood relief operations begin

People load relief supplies onto boats to take back to their villages. “The surge of water in the Brahmaputra River washed out a number of villages, damaging crops and drowning valuable livestock," Kunal said. There are fears of a sharp increase in food prices leading to food insecurity.

Though the water has started receding in many parts of Assam, many villages along the Brahmaputra river are still under water. The government of India has deployed 16 teams of the National Disaster Response Force for search and rescue operations.

Families come in throngs to receive relief supplies from a World Vision distribution site in Dhemaji District. As many as 400 families, including 200 sponsored children, were forced to evacuate in Dhemaji. Many families have taken shelter in school buildings.

The road that connects this village was completely swept away, and people can only commute by boat. The floods have damaged about 2,200 roads in Assam.

All the houses, about 95, in Kechu Khana village in Dhemaji district are surrounded by water. Many families still have water inside their house.

Families receive dry food rations — rice, lentils, and oil. In the first phase of relief operations, World Vision plans to reach 1,055 families in 18 villages.

Frequent landslides and broken roads hampered relief efforts, causing delays in reaching affected families. World Vision is providing water purification units and power generators for people in relief camps.