Death Toll From Floods in India Jumps to Nearly 270

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India's military has poured troops into the flooded southern state of Tamil Nadu to help rescue people stranded by floods that have killed nearly 270 people since mid-November.

The army has rescued more than 4,000 people in the hardest-hit parts of Chennai, India's fourth-largest city and a leading industrial hub, government officials reported Thursday. The country's air force has sent helicopters and its coast guard and navy are sending boats to pluck people out of washed-out neighborhoods, officials in New Delhi announced.

India may need a whopping $1 trillion by 2030 to adapt to climate change, says new report https://t.co/SZIBLBknlp pic.twitter.com/xE6Z6npiAy

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"I have seen the damage and misery caused by the extremely heavy rainfall. The Government of India stands by the people of Tamil Nadu in their hour of need," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after visiting the stricken region Thursday. Modi met with state officials and military leaders and pledged another $150 million in disaster aid, roughly doubling the government's previous commitment, his office said.

The prime minister has blamed the disaster on climate change. Experts say an El Niño event that's warming the tropical Pacific Ocean and driving global temperatures toward a new record has magnified the subcontinent's seasonal monsoon rains.

Adyar Rivet at Ekadathangal. #ChennaiFloods #ChennaiRains pic.twitter.com/jaBUKsQ46K

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Whatever the cause, the rains have inflicted misery across a wide area. Seema Agarwal told Reuters she had seen many angry people lining up in Chennai to catch buses out of town.

"There are people who haven't eaten for days," she said. "They have seen their possessions float away from the house. Food, clothes — all gone."

But the downpours, which the Times of India has called the "worst rain in 100 years," are expected to continue for another several days, India's Meteorological Department said Thursday. Forecasters expect up to 200 mm (8 inches) of new precipitation by Sunday.

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