Flash floods triggered by torrential rains kill 176 in India and Pakistan
Sudden, intense downpours over small areas known as cloudbursts are increasingly common in India's Himalayan regions and Pakistan's northern areas, which are prone to flash floods and landslides.
Advertisement
Cloudbursts have the potential to wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides, impacting thousands of people in the mountainous regions.
India's National Disaster Response Force and other security personnel carry out a rescue operation after flash floods in Chositi village, Kishtwar district, Indian-controlled Kashmir (Channi Anand/AP)
Experts say cloudbursts have increased in recent years partly because of climate change, while damage from the storms has also increased because of unplanned development in mountain regions.
In India-controlled Kashmir, rescuers searched for missing people in the remote Himalayan village of Chositi on Friday after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 missing, officials said.
Officials halted rescue operations overnight but rescued at least 300 people on Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides.
Advertisement
They said many missing people were believed to have been washed away.
At least 50 seriously injured people were treated in local hospitals, many of them rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris.
Disaster management official Mohammed Irshad said the number of missing people could increase.
Weather officials forecast more heavy rains and floods in the area.
Advertisement
Chositi, in Kashmir's Kishtwar district, is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an ongoing annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 3,000 metres (9,500ft).
Stranded pilgrims are helped across a water channel using a makeshift bridge a day after flash floods in Chositi village, Kishtwar district, Indian-controlled Kashmir (Channi Anand/AP)
Officials said the pilgrimage, which began on July 25 and was scheduled to end on September 5, was suspended.
The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen set up for the pilgrims, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes.
More than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen at the time of the flood, which also damaged or washed away many of the homes clustered together in the foothills, officials said.
Advertisement
Photos and videos on social media show extensive damage with household goods strewn next to damaged vehicles and homes in the village.
Authorities made makeshift bridges on Friday to help stranded pilgrims cross a muddy water channel.
Kishtwar district is home to multiple hydroelectric power projects, which experts have long warned pose a threat to the region's fragile ecosystem.
In northern and north-western Pakistan, flash floods killed at least 116 people while rescuers evacuated 1,300 stranded tourists from a mountainous district hit by landslides.
Advertisement
At least 35 people were reported missing in these areas, according to local officials.
Household goods are strewn around next to buildings damaged by flash floods in Chositi village, Kishtwar district, Indian-controlled Kashmir (Channi Anand/AP)
Flash floods triggered by heavy rains and cloudbursts early on Friday killed at least 56 people in Buner district in Pakistan's north-western district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a government administrator said.
Dozens were injured as the deluge destroyed homes in villages in Buner.
Rescuers backed by boats and helicopters worked to reach stranded residents.
More than 415 people, mostly women and children, have died in rain-related incidents across the country since June 26.
Deaths were reported from different parts of Pakistan on Thursday.
Bilal Faizi, a provincial emergency service spokesman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said rescuers worked for hours to save 1,300 tourists after they were trapped by flash flooding and landslides in the Siran Valley in Mansehra district on Thursday.
The Gilgit-Baltistan region in Pakistan has been hit by multiple floods since July, triggering landslides along the Karakoram Highway, a key trade and travel route linking Pakistan and China that is used by tourists to travel to the scenic north.
The region is home to scenic glaciers that provide 75% of Pakistan's stored water supply.
Pakistan's disaster management agency has issued fresh alerts for glacial lake outburst flooding in the north, warning travellers to avoid affected areas.
A study released this week by World Weather Attribution, a network of international scientists, found rainfall in Pakistan from June 24 to July 23 was 10% to 15% heavier because of global warming.
In 2022, the country's worst monsoon season on record killed more than 1,700 people and caused an estimated 40 billion dollars in damage.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Pakistan villagers say floods hit 'in seconds', as toll rises
DALORI BALA, Pakistan, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Residents in a hilltop village in northwest Pakistan described how raging waters and rocks had swept through their homes after a cloudburst, as authorities said on Tuesday the toll from floods in the region over the past five days had risen to 365. Flash floods triggered by cloudbursts in the mountainous northwest have brought destruction since Friday in the worst spell of this year's monsoon, with officials warning of more storms ahead. In Dalori Bala village near Gadoon mountains, the death toll climbed to 20 after rescue workers recovered more bodies from the rubble on Tuesday, one day after a cloudburst, said local district commissioner Nisar Khan. Residents of the village of about 100 concrete houses in the mountains of Swabi district said a torrent of rocks came crashing onto homes, causing walls and roofs to collapse, as they were preparing for work on Monday morning. It started with a "horrible", thunderous noise at about 8 a.m., said Zeeshan Ali, a 20-year-old college student. "It took away everything in one go, in seconds," he said. His buffalos, as well as other belongings including electrical goods, were washed away, though his family was able to escape. "We are in need of assistance," said another resident, 45-year-old Bakht Zaman. Buner, to the north, received more than 150 mm of rain within an hour triggered by a cloudburst on Friday morning, killing over 200 people -- the single most destructive event in this monsoon season. A cloudburst is a rare phenomenon where more than 100 mm (4 inches) of rain falls within an hour in a small area. Bodies were still being recovered in the northwest, with an unspecified number of people missing, said Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, head of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). More than 25,000 people have been rescued so far from flood-hit areas, he said, with a total of 695 killed across Pakistan since late June. The army and air force have joined rescue efforts. In southern Pakistan, heavy rain flooded major roads in the port city of Karachi, causing traffic gridlock and power outages on Tuesday, a regional government spokesperson said. TV footage showed cars floating in the floodwater on the city's main thoroughfare and rainwater entering houses in low- lying areas. Authorities said 145 mm of rain had fallen in the city and that there could be more urban flooding in Pakistan's south, including Karachi. The NDMA has warned of more intense monsoon spells across the country until September 10.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Pakistan flooding: Electricity and roads restored following floods that killed 300
Pakistan has restored 70 per cent of its electricity supply and reopened key roads in the northern and northwestern regions, following flash floods that claimed the lives of over 300 people. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar confirmed that engineers are continuing efforts to fully reinstate the power grid, which was severely impacted by last week's deluge. He added that the clearing of most routes is now facilitating the crucial delivery of food and other essential supplies to the devastated areas. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered authorities to accelerate recovery efforts in Buner, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and a cloudburst Friday killed at least 280 people, Tarar said. Monsoon rains triggered floods that killed more than 700 people nationwide since June 26, the National Disaster Management Authority reported, while Tarar said more than 25,000 people have been evacuated. Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif said military doctors are treating survivors and engineers are repairing damaged infrastructure. Troops using helicopters also have delivered food and supplies to remote villages cut off by floods and landslides. Last week's flooding in Buner was among the worst since the rains began late last month. Search teams aided by army sniffer dogs are still combing the district for about 150 missing people, rescue official Mohammad Suhail said. The tragedy has been compounded by controversy, after a senior politician blamed locals for the high number of fatalities, suggesting people should have constructed their homes elsewhere. Provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said on Sunday that many of the deaths could have been avoided had residents not built homes along waterways and riverbanks. He added that the government would encourage displaced families to relocate to safer areas, where they would be assisted in rebuilding their homes. That sentiment has been met with anger from villagers, who accuse officials of failing to issue timely evacuation warnings. They highlighted the absence of broadcasts from mosque loudspeakers, a traditional method for alerting communities to emergencies in the region. Officials said the cloudburst struck so suddenly that warnings could not be delivered. Authorities have warned of a possible repeat of Pakistan's catastrophic 2022 floods, which killed nearly 1,700 people and were blamed on climate change.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Death toll rises to 358 after flash floods engulf homes in northwest Pakistan: ‘It came without warning'
Flash floods swept through northwest Pakistan 's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province without warning, sending walls of rain and mud down hillsides that engulfed homes, shops and roads. Photos of the aftermath show homes were left half-submerged with walls buckling under the weight of water and mud as large parts of the hillside areas were swept away by falling boulders and sludge. On Tuesday, rescue workers recovered more bodies as the official death toll increased to 358 across the wider province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with over 200 dead in the worst-hit district of Buner. More than 100 people remained missing as anguished families and rescue workers continued their search for bodies swept away by flash floods after a cloudburst and heavy downpour triggered flash floods between Thursday and Friday night. The residents fear the number will climb as more bodies are recovered from under the mud and rubble. On Monday, Sahil Khan, a 24-year-old university student, was among a group of villagers perched on a rooftop, watching the rain return. 'Everybody is scared. Children are scared. They cannot sleep,' he told the Reuters news agency. He and about 15 others had fled after a water channel, swollen once again, threatened to spill into their homes. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority says 30 children are among the dead. The flooding has been relentless since late last week, when a rare cloudburst dropped more than 150mm of rain in an hour in Buner district, the worst-hit area. The deluge swept through Buner's narrow valleys, leaving markets buried under mud and vehicles scattered in the rubble of damaged houses. Shops that once bustled with traders were left silent, their contents ruined and their walls crumbling under layers of silt. Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, the National Disaster Management Authority's chairman, warned of two more spells of rain between 21 August and 10 September. "It can intensify," he said, and there could be more cloudbursts. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, of the 200 people dead in Buner, there are 28 women and 30 children. Those who survived have moved into temporary shelters or are staying with relatives. In Bayshonai Kalay village, families said they gathered what little they could carry before climbing to higher ground. 'People are out of their homes. They are fearful,' said Dayar Khan, a 26-year-old shopkeeper who left his town for the mountains. Rescue teams have struggled to reach many of the affected areas. Bridges have collapsed, narrow streets remain blocked by mud, and heavy machinery cannot pass through. In some villages, residents are using shovels to clear pathways themselves. The government has argued that many of the deaths could have been prevented if families had not built homes along water channels, while residents fumed that they received no prior warning. Provincial chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur said the displaced will be encouraged to rebuild in safer places. Traditionally, mosque loudspeakers announce emergencies in such areas, yet residents insist no call came before the torrents swept through. Authorities replied that the downpour was so sudden and intense that there was no time to alert communities. Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to review relief efforts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Officials estimated damages to homes, roads and other property at more than Pakistan rupees 126m ($450,000). For many, the devastation recalls Pakistan's catastrophic floods of 2022, which killed nearly 1,700 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Scientists link both disasters to a warming climate that is making monsoon rains more erratic and more destructive. Across Pakistan, monsoon rains that began in late June have been heavier than usual, killing at least 645 people. Four hundred of those deaths were in the northwest alone, where narrow valleys and river-carved gorges funnel rainwater into sudden torrents. India-administered Kashmir, flash floods killed at least 67 people l ast week during a Hindu pilgrimage.
