Indian army searches for scores missing after deadly Himalayan flood
At least four people were killed and around 100 are unaccounted for -- including 11 soldiers -- after a wall of muddy water and debris tore down a narrow mountain valley, smashing into the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state.
"Additional army columns, along with army tracker dogs, drones, logistic drones, earthmoving equipment etc., have been moved... to hasten the efforts", the army said Wednesday.
Military helicopters were working to bring in "essential supplies, medicines and (for the) evacuation of the marooned", it added.
Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the flood was caused by an intense "cloudburst" of rain, and that rescue teams had been deployed "on a war footing".
Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region on Tuesday afternoon.
Several people could be seen running before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris that uprooted entire buildings.
Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency late Tuesday that he had reports of "four deaths and around 100 people missing".
- 'Extreme event' -
Torrential monsoon rains continue to pour down.
"Residents have been moved to higher reaches in view of rising water levels due to incessant rains", the army added.
Government weather forecasters said Wednesday that all major rivers in Uttarakhand were flowing above the danger mark.
Images released by the army, taken from the site after the main torrent had passed, showed a river of slow-moving mud.
A large part of the town was swamped by mud, with rescue officials estimating it was 50 feet (15 metres) deep in places, swallowing some buildings entirely.
Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity.
The UN's World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a "distress signal" of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable.
Expert hydrologist Manish Shrestha said the 270 mm (10 inches) of rain within 24 hours reported in the flood zone "counts as an extreme event".
Shrestha, from the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, said such rain in mountains has a "more concentrated" impact than on flatter lowlands.
"Such intense rainfall events are becoming increasingly common, and could be linked to climate change", he said.
pm-pzb-pjm/tym
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Firefighters grapple with France's largest wildfire in decades
STORY: :: August 6, 2025 :: Firefighters work through the night against France's largest wildfire in decades :: Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, France :: Officials say at least one person has died Reuters video showed flames in the trees in in the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, about 30 kilometres from the city of Perpignan, while firefighters arrived to tackle the blaze. One person died in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, the prefecture said. The fire, which spread very rapidly through forests and villages, has burnt down at least 25 houses, forcing residents and tourists to flee. Many roads are closed. So far, over 15,000 hectares have burned. That is similar to the total area that burned across all of France in several of the past years, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said. He added this was the biggest area burnt by one single fire in France since 1949. The prefecture said the fire was progressing "very quickly" and that nearly 2,000 firefighters were trying to bring it under control. Around 2,500 households in the area were currently without electricity, it said.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Russia earthquake: Magnitude 8.8 megaquake hits Kamchatka, generating tsunamis across the Pacific
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Tsunami warnings have been issued in regions across the Pacific, including Hawaii, Alaska, Russia and Japan, following a magnitude 8.8 "megaquake" — the joint-sixth largest ever recorded — that hit off Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula at 11:25 a.m. local time (18:25 p.m. EST) on Wednesday morning (July 30), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Tsunami waves could reach higher than 10 feet (3 meters) above tide level along the coasts of Hawaii, Ecuador and Russia, according to a warning issued by the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center at 11:07 p.m. EST on July 29. The first waves reached Hawaii, with a 4 foot (1.2 m) wall of water recorded by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) off the coast of Oahu, the BBC reports. "A tsunami has been generated that could cause damage along coastlines of all islands in the state of Hawaii," the PTWC said in a bulletin. "Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property." Honolulu's mayor Rick Blangiardi warned residents to move to higher ground and Hawaii's governor, Josh Green, urged people to immediately evacuate coastal regions. In a news conference reported by CNN, Green said "it will not hit one beach, it will wrap around the islands." In Japan, officials have told more than 1.9 million people to evacuate as waves measuring over 4 feet (1.2 m) hit the country's north and east coasts, CNN reports. Footage of tsunami waves hitting the Russian coastal town of Severo-Kurilsk in Kamchatka, shows water flooding buildings on the port. In North America, tsunami advisories are also in place along the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Waves measuring between 3 and 10 feet (1 to 3 m) are also possible along the coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Japan, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kiribati, Midway Island, Palmyra Island, Peru, Samoa and the Solomon Islands, according to the PTWC. The epicenter of the earthquake was recorded roughly 74 miles (119 kilometers) southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, according to the USGS. As of midnight EST, 24 powerful aftershocks reaching magnitudes of over 5.0 were reported in Russia, with two hitting magnitudes of 6.9 and 6.3, respectively. The Kamchatka earthquake is considered a megaquake as its magnitude is above 8. The Kamchatka Peninsula is a sparsely populated region located within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped belt of volcanoes known for their explosive volcanic eruptions and intense earthquakes. The ring runs from southern Chile, up the west coast of the Americas, through the islands off Alaska and far eastern Russia and down through Japan and the Philippines. RELATED STORIES —First video of an earthquake fault cracking has revealed another surprise —Almost half of California's faults — including San Andreas — are overdue for earthquakes —'This is a very big earthquake': The science behind Myanmar's magnitude 7.7 earthquake The volcanoes here arise due to tectonic plates involved in a process called subduction. This movement lowers the melting point of rocks in Earth's mantle, creating pockets of magma that rise to the surface. "What's special about the Ring of Fire is that multiple oceanic plates in the Pacific have subduction boundaries there," Loÿc Vanderkluysen, a volcanologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia, previously told Live Science. Indeed, it's estimated that 90% of the 34,000 miles (55,000 km) of subduction plate boundaries on Earth are found in the Pacific. Tectonic movements also trigger earthquakes as the plates squeeze past each other. "There's lots of kicking and screaming as the plates grind against one another," Jeffrey Karson, a professor emeritus of tectonics at Syracuse University in New York, previously told Live Science. "And so that's where the biggest earthquakes on our planet take place." Due to all this activity, the Ring of Fire is home to about 75% of Earth's active volcanoes and reports 90% of all measured earthquakes. Indeed, the five largest earthquakes ever recorded have all taken place within this region: 1. Valdivia Earthquake, Chile: magnitude 9.5, 1960 2. Great Alaska Earthquake, U.S.: magnitude 9.2, 1964 3. Sumatra-Andaman Islands Earthquake: magnitude 9.1, 2004 4. Tohoku Earthquake, Japan: magnitude 9.1, 2011 5. Kamchatka Earthquake, Russia: magnitude 9.0, 1952 This latest earthquake comes in joint-sixth place with Chile's Maule Earthquake in 2010 and the Ecuador-Colombia Earthquake in 1906, all with a magnitude 8.8.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
France's biggest wildfire of the summer has eclipsed the size of Paris and is still spreading
SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-CABRERISSE, France (AP) — France's biggest wildfire in years was spreading quickly Wednesday in a Mediterranean region near Spain after leaving one person dead and several injured, authorities said. The fire burned an area larger than Paris, and the military was called in to help. French Prime Minister François Bayrou deplored a 'disaster on an unprecedented scale' in the region. Over 2,100 firefighters and several water bomber aircraft battled the blaze that broke out Tuesday afternoon in the village of Ribaute in the Aude region, a rural, wooded area that is home to wineries. The fire, which has burned 16,000 hectares (39,500 acres), remained 'very active' on Wednesday and continued to progress as night fell, the local administration said. The weather was hot, dry and windy, making it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze. Villagers sought to help douse the flames or save their homes and small businesses, and described their alarm at the fire's speed. Ash filled the air and coated windows and cars, and several roads were closed around the region. ''The sky was blue, and then less than an hour later the sky was orange,″ said Andy Pickup of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, at the heart of the fire zone. 'That's when we went out and tried to help.' ''We heard pops and cracks — it was the trees, it was the village,″ he told The Associated Press. ''We could see the fires taking hold on all the hills around Saint-Laurent.″ At dusk, he said, they saw fires in every direction, some as near as 100 meters (yards) away. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the military will reinforce efforts starting from Thursday, with several dozens of soldiers to be deployed. One person died in their home, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters, local authorities said. Three people were missing, the prefecture said. Jacques Piraux, mayor of the village of Jonquières, said all residents have been evacuated. 'It's a scene of sadness and desolation," he told broadcaster BFM TV after visiting there on Wednesday morning. 'It looks like a lunar landscape, everything is burned. More than half or three-quarters of the village has burned down. It's hellish.' Residents and tourists in nearby areas were requested to remain in their homes unless told to evacuate. Two campgrounds were evacuated as a precaution. The prime minister met Wednesday afternoon with firefighters and residents at Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, where the fire service's command post has been set up. He said he came to express 'national solidarity.' The area's economy is relying on winery and tourism and 'both sectors are affected,' he stressed. Bayrou said an investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire. The environment ministry said the Aude region has been experiencing a drought this month, with water use restrictions in place. Lack of rainfall in recent months 'played a major role in the spreading of the fire, since the vegetation is very dry,' the statement said. This week's fire was the biggest since the creation of a national fire database in 2006, according to the national emergency service. Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. Last month, a wildfire that reached the southern port of Marseille, France's second-largest city, left aroundTh 300 people injured. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. ''We've lived here for 10 years and we've seen nothing like that,'' Pickup said. ''Consistently the summers are getting hotter, there is less and less rain, and that is a major problem.'' ''We have been told the wind might come stronger tomorrow,'' he added. ___ Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press journalists German Martinez in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report. Sylvie Corbet And Hernan Munoz, The Associated Press
