K. Balchand Nowhere to go: A goods train halting at a station in flooded North Bihar on Wednesday. The station, where many people have taken refuge, is completely cut off from the rest of the State. PATNA: With flood waters swamping more areas in Bihar, the race is to prevent the breach in the Kosi embankment from widening further. The State government is hoping to complete the task in the next couple of days with the cooperation of Nepal, but the weatherman sounded pessimistic fearing more rainfall in the catchment areas in the coming days. Heavy rains could spell disaster with officials fearing that the 2.5-km breach could become as big as 10-km long. The floods had brought down two transmission towers in Kataiya and Narpatganj early on Wednesday morning, throwing several parts of Nepal into darkness. The government on Wednesday sounded a red alert asking the people to vacate their villages and go to higher and safer places. The authorities have warned that more release of water from the breach would only spell disaster in the entire region. The people are refusing to leave their native places despite having to bear with the tribulations of the floods, including starvation and epidemics, for almost 10 days now. The non-availability of better rescue operation is another hurdle. The situation in Madhepura continues to be bad, with most parts of the township having been inundated. At least one person was killed in a bid to grab meagre relief supplies at the hurriedly set up relief centres. Incidents of looting of foodgrains were reported from several places and a boy was killed in Supaul when food packets dropped from the air fell on him. It was reported that some prisoners escaped from the Supaul Jail taking advantage of the floods. With five more deaths in Madhepura and four in Saharsa the death toll has risen to 55. Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan made an aerial survey and held the State government responsible for the cause of the breach in the embankments and the current plight of the victims. He announced distribution of medicines worth Rs. 5 crore in the region. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to survey the calamity in a bid to make a Central intervention after Railway Minister Lalu Prasad complained of the State government's "total failure' on all fronts, including relief and rescue operations. President Pratibha Patil had a talk with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and enquired about the tragedy.