
GAWHATI, India -- When 42-year-old Manoj Talukdar returned to his home in Medhikuchi in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, he found everything washed away -- his house, along with the six cows and more than 2,000 chickens that had been his family's only source of income.
"I have lost my life's savings," said Talukdar, who had spent 20 years building one of the biggest farms in the village. "I have nothing left now."