while china is just starting to heat up, people in india are already
suffering from a powerful heat wave.
more than 570 people have died in the past two weeks as temperatures
hit 50℃ in the southern state of andhra pradesh. and the number of
the deaths might increase further, said d.c. roshaiah, chief of the
state's rescue team.
people are dying from dehydration (脱水), sunstroke (中暑) and lack of
drinking water. and it is mainly the elderly and the poor who are
suffering most.
the government has told people to stay indoors to avoid the heat,
but many poor people live in tin-roofed (锡顶的) houses that heat up
like ovens (烤箱).
by afternoon, the heat is so powerful that everything stops. it is
too hot even to move and there isn't even enough water to cool down.
the children sit in dark classrooms away from the sun and just wait
for evening to arrive. but even then the nights are so uncomfortable
it is difficult even to breathe.
everyone looks to the southwest for the first sign of the rains.
only then does life start up again.
but humans are not the only victims of the heat. an elephant, in
the state has died due to dehydration. and more than 1.4 million chickens
have also died in the past week.
however, roshaiah said the number of human deaths is, so far, much
lower than last year when more than 1,000 people died in the southern
state.
weather experts are hoping the arrival of the yearly monsoon rains
(季风雨) will bring temperatures down. the monsoon normally hits the
southern indian coast at the beginning of june
