People have been risking their lives to save animals stranded in the flooding of Hurricane Harvey

The largest animal rescue operation ever mounted has united America’s National Guard with welfare campaigners and kindhearted animal lovers to save countless pets and livestock caught in the deluge.

A variety of pets and livestock needed rescuing from the rising floodwaters

Aside from helping more than 13,000 people to safety, rescuers across Texas have also plucked a variety of pets and livestock from the rising floodwaters. Heart-warming videos and photographs showing a variety of creatures, including bats, birds, cows, dogs, horses and pigs, all being helped to reach dry ground and safety, have gone viral.

Harvey: a disaster of biblical proportions

Hurricane Harvey’s sudden 11 trillion gallons (47 trillion litres) of rain has created a disaster of biblical proportions and a waking nightmare for farmers and pet owners alike.

Heartbreaking photographs and videos of terrified home owners clutching their most treasured possessions – their beloved pets – as they flee their waterlogged homes have become the all too familiar images of Hurricane Harvey’s might.

These distressing scenes have spurred the United States’ huge network of national and local animal welfare charities and volunteer groups into action, to come the rescue of pets and livestock left cut off by the rising flood waters and provide shelter for those already saved.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have all sent crews to the disaster zone to assist the local authorities in mitigating the distress of the flood victims by saving their family pets.

Source: Express

South Asia is also experiencing the worst flooding in a generation

Extreme rainfall has led to devastating floods across Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, killing nearly 1,200 people and displacing millions.

Heavy monsoon rains of historic proportions have lashed Nepal, Bangladesh, and India for weeks, leading to what some international rescue and aid organisations have been calling the worst flooding in decades.

Nearly 1,200 people have been killed by the floods and landslides in the three countries so far, while millions more continue to be displaced from their homes. Torrential monsoon rains have destroyed tens of thousands of houses, schools, and hospitals, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The agency estimates that almost 41 million people have been affected in three countries.

Many of the flooded areas already have high rates of malnutrition to contend with. The disaster has raised concerns of food shortages and water-borne diseases, as thousands of hectares of farms have been washed away and relief work continues to be disrupted by continuous rain.

CLICK for gallery of what the floods have done to millions across Nepal, Bangladesh, and India (WARNING: readers may find some images distressing).

Source: Buzzfeed