Flash floods triggered by torrential rains kill 120 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 60 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)
More than 360 people, mostly women and children, have died in rain-related incidents across Pakistan since June 26.
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
14 hours ago
- Reuters
Pakistan's financial capital Karachi hit by torrential rain and flooding
KARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan declared a public holiday in Karachi as the financial capital braced for more rain on Wednesday, after the arrival of the annual monsoon season left at least seven people dead and caused widespread flooding, officials said. The monsoon has brought havoc across Pakistan in recent days with the death toll from flash floods that struck the mountainous northwest on Friday rising to 377. In Karachi, at least seven people have died since the rains began in the southern port city on Tuesday, said Abdul Wahid Halepoto, a provincial government spokesperson. Rainfall reached levels not seen in years in some parts of the city, Pakistan's largest, with a population of more than 20 million. Deaths were caused by drowning, road accidents, building collapse and electrocution, Halepoto said. Authorities ordered educational institutions and offices to shut. "We are expecting more intense rains," said Anjum Nazir, a spokesperson for the provincial meteorological department. Tuesday's rain was recorded between 80 mm (3.15 inches) and 178 mm (7.01 inches) in different parts of the city, he said. Nazir said the area around the airport received 163.5 mm of rain, the highest recorded there since 1979. Some 178 mm of rain was recorded in the northeast of the city, the highest since the weather station there was set up five years ago. The rain also disrupted power, mobile phone services and flights, officials said. Local television footage showed cars and other vehicles floating down streets, with houses submerged in water. Karachi Electric said the sudden downpour had caused some disruption to its distribution network. Restoration efforts faced significant challenges due to waterlogging, access and overall traffic congestion in the city, its spokesperson said. He said KE teams would be able to restore the majority of electricity feeders within eight to 12 hours. Rescue workers, police, volunteers and government agencies were helping relief efforts, the city's Mayor Murtaza Wahab told a press conference. "We are using all our resources to clear roads and restore utilities," he said. Wahab said the rain had overwhelmed the city's infrastructure, adding that the city's drainage system has the capacity to handle 40 mm rain, and that anything above that would spill over into flooding. There have also been heavy monsoon rains in Mumbai, India's financial capital, with some parts of the city drenched with as much as 875.1 mm of rain in the five days leading up to August 20, the local weather department said. Many schools in the city were closed for a second straight day on Wednesday, while train services were disrupted. Authorities requested residents avoid venturing out as more rain was predicted.
The Independent
15 hours ago
- The Independent
Pakistan issues flood alert for southern districts as rescuers search for missing in the northwest
Pakistan issued a flood alert Wednesday for some southern districts, warning of torrential rains, as rescue teams continued searching for missing people in the country's northwest, where severe floods killed hundreds over the past week. The new warning is for the same southern regions struck by climate-induced catastrophic deluges in 2022 that killed thousands of people. The National Emergencies Operation Centre said expected rainfall of up to 100 millimeters (about 4 inches) over the next 24 hours could submerge highways, disrupt transport, and damage power and telecommunications networks in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas, and Sukkur in the southern province of Sindh. At least 41 people have been killed in rain-related incidents nationwide over the past 24 hours, the disaster management agency said, mostly in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region and in the city of Karachi, where torrential rains on Tuesday flooded streets and disrupted daily life. Schools in Karachi remain closed. Pakistan has suffered above-normal monsoon rains, killing at least 746 people since June 26. Meanwhile, rescuers in the northwest pressed on with a grim search for nearly 150 people missing in the district of Buner, where floodwaters carrying massive boulders and mud swept through villages, flattening homes and leaving piles of rubble. Search teams aided by army sniffer dogs pulled more bodies from the debris as anxious relatives looked on. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country's powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, were scheduled to visit flood-hit areas in Swat Valley and Buner later Wednesday. Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services, said the death toll in Buner has climbed to 290 after more bodies were recovered. Rescue teams managed to distribute tents, blankets, cooking utensils, ready-to-eat food, and clean drinking water in the area, he said, as others worked on restoring power in the devastated zone. Most of the damaged roads have been reopened in Buner. Survivors recounted horrific stories of sudden floodwaters that carried boulders and barely allowed people to run to safer grounds. Many residents have blamed the government for not issuing an early warning. ___ Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
Reuters
17 hours ago
- Reuters
Pakistan's Karachi hit by torrential rain and floods
KARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan declared a public holiday in Karachi on Wednesday as the financial capital braced for more rain, after the arrival of the annual monsoon season left at least 7 people dead and caused widespread flooding, officials said. The monsoon has brought havoc across Pakistan in recent days with the death toll from flash floods that struck the mountainous northwest on Friday rising to 377. In Karachi, at least seven people have died since the rains began in the southern port city on Tuesday, said Abdul Wahid Halepoto, a provincial government spokesperson. Rainfall reached levels not seen in years in some parts of the city, Pakistan's largest, with a population of more than 20 million. Authorities ordered educational institutions and offices to shut. "We are expecting more intense rains," said Anjum Nazir, a spokesperson for the provincial meteorological department. Tuesday's rain was recorded between 80 mm (3.15 inches) and 178 mm (7.01 inches) in different parts of the city, he said. Nazir said the area around the airport received 163.5 mm of rain, the highest recorded there since 1979. Some 178mm of rain was recorded in the northeast of the city, the highest since the weather station there was set up five years ago. The rain also disrupted power, mobile phone services and flights, officials said. Local television footage showed cars and other vehicles floating down streets, with houses submerged in water. Rescue workers, police, volunteers and government civic agencies were helping relief efforts, the city's Mayor Murtaza Wahab told local Geo News television. "We have all our resources at work," he said. Wahab said the rain had overwhelmed the city's infrastructure. There have also been heavy monsoon rains in Mumbai, India's financial capital, with some parts of the city drenched with as much as 875.1 mm of rain in the five days leading up to August 20, the local weather department said. Many schools in the city were closed for a second straight day on Wednesday, while train services were disrupted. Authorities requested residents avoid venturing out as more rain was predicted.
