They are Dalian in China, Naga in the Philippines, Surat in India and Bandung in Indonesia.

CNN: Pressure Points

The provinces of Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Trang, Krabi and Phatthalung have been the hardest hit.

BBC: Thailand tourist islands flood in deadly rains

In the case of Surat, the trigger was, of all things, an outbreak of the plague in 1994.

CNN: Pressure Points

Surat has managed that - and in doing so has become a yardstick for South Asia's city managers.

CNN: Pressure Points

In Gujarat, for example, Ahmedabad, the commercial capital, is riot prone but Surat, a textile centre, is not.

ECONOMIST: India and Pakistan: Old foes, still foes | The

Sevantilal Shah, the boss of Venus Jewel, a big diamond polisher and producer in Surat, says domestic sales are flourishing.

ECONOMIST: The economy

IBM, for example, is establishing a foothold in 14 of India's second-tier cities, from Surat on the west coast to Bhubaneswar in the east.

ECONOMIST: Domestic outsourcing in India

The Surat Thani biomass plant in Thailand uses waste trimmings from six palm-oil mills to create more than 70 megawatts of power each year.

FORBES: From Asia, 5 Inspiring Ways To Green The City

The villages have welcomed back migrant workers from neighbouring states, where people no longer find work twisting steel in Mumbai or polishing diamonds in Surat.

ECONOMIST: Asia

He spies for us on meetings of Dutch price-fixers in Surat.

ECONOMIST: Historical geography