Begum's family, in a bid to protect their limited belongings, secured their lone suitcase to their home - a temporary shelter made of bamboo and banana leaves that was built following the previous destructive flood in the region two years ago. When the floodwaters surged, the house became surrounded by muddy water, forcing the family to prepare meals on a raised dry patch nearby. Then, a heartbreaking incident occurred when Begum left her one-year-old daughter, Lamia Khatun, on a slightly elevated area while she washed clothes in the floodwaters on Tuesday. Tragically, the waters continued to rise. Begum, 32, recounted how she returned home to find that the woman was no longer there, and her body was discovered hours later. The monsoon floods in southern Asia have impacted over 4 million individuals, resulting in destroyed homes, submerged villages, and the need for rescue missions. While the monsoon season is vital for the region's agricultural economy, recent years have seen an increase in cyclones and devastating floods causing displacement of millions, especially in Bangladesh. In the previous year, the United Nations reported that at least 600 individuals lost their lives and over 25 million were affected by flooding in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Nepal due to heavy monsoon rains. In 2017, over 1,000 individuals lost their lives due to flooding in South Asia. The regions experiencing the heaviest rainfall this year include northeast India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Nepal, as reported by the Southeast Asia Flash Flood Forecast System. Bangladeshi officials have stated that the flooding began in late June and is expected to continue into the following month, affecting additional areas. Enamur Rahman, the Bangladeshi minister for disaster management, described the inundations as the worst in decades, resulting in hundreds of thousands of families being stranded and the opening of more than 1,000 emergency shelters. Rahman emphasized that every available resource is being utilized to combat this catastrophe. Researchers have warned that prolonged rains and floods are expected this year, with Bangladesh and India being severely affected. Bangladesh, with a population of over 160 million, may lose more than 10% of its land to sea-level rise due to a warming climate, potentially displacing 18 million people. In India, floods have devastated states like Assam, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal, resulting in at least 85 deaths and affecting over 3 million people. The Kaziranga National Park in Assam, home to the vulnerable one-horned Indian rhinoceros, has been completely flooded. Officials have reported that over 50 animals have perished in the floods, but some wildlife has been saved. Rescue efforts are underway in 22 districts of Assam where more than a dozen rivers have overflowed. In Nepal, 67 individuals have lost their lives and 40 are still unaccounted for, as per the National Emergency Operation Center. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has also been hit hard by monsoons, a country with a population of 165 million that is frequently affected by flooding due to its low-lying and densely populated areas. In Jamalpur, located in the northern region of Bangladesh, the flood situation has reached a critical point as rivers are significantly above the danger level. Muneeb-ul-Islam, a 42-year-old resident of the area who lives with his wife and three children, shared that he has lost his home multiple times in the past decade, leaving him with only the clothes on his back. Along with his family, Muneeb-ul-Islam is part of over 1 million people in Bangladesh who have been displaced or left homeless due to the floods. Feeling as though they have done something wrong, he expressed the difficulty of having to rebuild their lives from scratch for the third time in recent years. Begum, who tragically lost her 1-year-old child, described how her life has been completely shattered by the disaster. She has relocated to a close shelter, which is a school building, where numerous people were packed in tightly. Concerns about the coronavirus spreading in such crowded conditions are significant. Begum's family expressed that there was not sufficient warning about the severity of the flooding. "I will never return to our previous home," she stated, "The water has taken everything from us."