Nearly 300 people have been killed by landslides and flooding in India and Pakistan in the wake of some of the heaviest monsoon rains the region has ever seen. India's top civilian official Rohit Kansal told the Associated Press today, "The situation is extremely grim. We are not able to reach many people because the water is moving so fast."

The AP reports that over 160 people have died so far in Pakistan, and 120 people have died in India. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the situation a "national level disaster" on Sunday. Citizens have waited hours for rescue. The New York Times reports on the situation on the ground:

Shakeela Rahman, 34, has spent the past few nights sleeping on a divider on a road that connects Bemina, where she lives, to Srinagar [in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir]. She fled her home with her two small children early Friday morning, after water started flowing into houses there. "We have not eaten anything, my kids are starving, and our house is completely submerged under water," Rahman said.

The AP got similar reports from Pakistani citizens:

Naeem Mushtaq, a 30-year-old farmer from Gujranwala district [of Pakistan], said he and four other people climbed into trees when the floodwaters surged through their village on Saturday. They waited in the branches for more than 20 hours before rescuers reached them ...

Thousands of homes across both countries have been destroyed.

Modi has pledged $166 million in aid to the government of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which has been hit the hardest. Modi also offered aid to the government of Pakistan.

[Photo via AP]