Bangalore, Oct 7  Till a week back, Sreelakshmi had a home of her own where she lived happily with her two sons and husband. Today, with the floods washing away her home in a Karnataka village, all she has in the name of a shelter is a tarpaulin sheet over her head.

The recent flash floods in north Karnataka swept away her home at Goanwar village of Jewargi taluk in Gulbarga district, around 600 km from Bangalore.

"I have lost everything in the floods. Thankfully, all four members of my family are safe. With no roof over our heads, and hungry stomachs, I don't know what the future holds for poor people like us," wailed Sreelakshmi, 32, as she narrated her tragic story to television reporters.

Almost similar is the fate of Ammu, 40, of Hiremagi village in Hungund taluk in Bagalkot district, around 480 km from Bangalore. After her home with two rooms had been completely ravaged in the floods, she is staying at a relief camp in the village, one of the worst hit in the floods.

"My home has been destroyed. My cattle are all dead. All my husband's earning and hard work has been washed away in the floods. Our lives have been destroyed," said the mother of five children.

They are amongst the 18 million who have been affected by the floods in 18 of Karnataka's 29 districts. Three days of torrential rain, accompanied by floods, beginning from Sep 30 left 206 people dead in the state.

An estimated 550,000 people have taken shelter in the 1,558 relief camps that have been set up in the affected areas.

Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa has announced that the government would construct 200,000 houses, half of them within one year, as part of the rehabilitation of the displaced people.

But, as 65-year-old Mohana said, life will never be the same.

"Life will never be the same again for us. We've lost everything. One of my sons is missing. I am waiting for him to come back," said Mohana of Hatcholli village in Bellary district, around 300 km from Bangalore.

"Now there is no home, no food, no water and no health facilities for us. We're on the streets," cried his wife Bela.

Nagarajuna, from the same village, said the government had to help in rebuilding lives.

"We pray to god to bring normalcy soon into our lives," he said. (IANS)