Downpour across India leaves four dead, much damage; Jammu sees highest rainfall in 26 years

Heavy rains wreaked havoc in several parts of the country including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, bringing life to a standstill.

The downpour killed at least four people, washed away several houses and triggered a few landslides across the northern part of the country.

Meanwhile, Jammu city received 189.6 mm rain in 24 hours, the highest downpour in a day in almost 26 years, causing flash floods and inundation in low-lying areas.

With the monsoon in an active phase and multiple low-pressure systems influencing the weather, all parts of India have been witnessing intense rainfall activity this week.

Parts of north and northwest India have also been in this mix, and latest forecasts suggest they will continue to witness heavy rain spells for the remainder of this week, according to weather.com.

As per India Meteorological Department weather bulletin, released on Thursday, scattered/fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls and thunderstorm/lightning is very likely over east Rajasthan during 11-15 August, West Rajasthan on 12 and 13 August; Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during 11-15 August; Punjab and Haryana on 11th; and Jammu & Kashmir on 11, 14 & 15 August, 2022. Isolated very heavy rainfall also likely over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on 11th and East Rajasthan on 11 & 15 August.

Let's take a closer look at what's happening:

Himachal Pradesh

Torrential rainfall in parts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday led to two women being buried alive under debris following a landslide in Kullu district, while shops and vehicles were washed away and highways blocked by flash floods in other places.

Himachal Pradesh | Heavy rain in last 24 hours, leads to an increase in the water level of rivers and rivulets, including Suketi river, causing severe waterlogging and a flood-like situation in parts of the state. Visuals from Mandi where normal life is affected. pic.twitter.com/MtJAXUZcuY

— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2022

In Kullu, Chavelu Devi (55) and Kritika (17) died when their house at Khadel village was hit by debris following a landslide around 9 am, director of state disaster management department Sudesh Mokhta said.

In another incident in the district, 10 shops and three vehicles were washed away following a cloudburst at the Deuthi gram panchayat around 7.30 am, he added.

#WATCH | Himachal Pradesh: A structure washed away in the flash flood caused due to heavy rain in the Anni block of Kullu. Visuals from Anni bus stand.

(Video Source: Disaster Management Authority) pic.twitter.com/pQcXJn55g6

— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2022

An old bus stand and a panchayat building at Deuthi are also facing the risk of being washed away, and revenue department officials have reached the spot to assess the situation, he added.

In Shimla district, three small cars and a pickup vehicle were washed away during torrential rains at Diyandali Nullah in Chopal tehsil, the official said.

In Mandi district, the Mandi-Kullu national highway has been blocked following a landslide in the morning, he said. The Mandi District Emergency Operation Centre (DEOC) said the incident occurred at 7 Mile near Pandoh due to which National Highway-21 has been completely blocked. Vehicular traffic has been diverted through Kataula.

In Chamba district, a crasher, two compressors machines and a store of a construction company were washed away in a cloudburst incident near Ala Nullah in Bharmour tehsil, Mokhta said.

In Lahaul-Spiti district, National Highway-3 has been blocked. There is a flood-like situation and stones are continuously falling near Kuthbihal after flashfloods at Telling nullah in Lahaul subdivision, he added.

Road restoration work is under process, the official said. Besides, state highway number 26 was blocked following a flash flood at Sindhwari nullah in Udaipur subdivision of Lahaul-Spiti district, he said.

Flash floods were also reported at Lote and Tozing Nullahs in Lahaul subdivision and the assessment of losses is being done, Mokhta said. A car was hit by flash floods at Tozing Nullah, and the road has been closed for vehicular movement to avoid any untoward incident, he said.

Meanwhile, 141.8 mm rain was recorded in Sundernagar in the last 24 hours, followed by Hamirpur with 120 mm, Sarkaghat 112.3 mm, Paonta Sahib 97.6 mm, Chopal 74 mm, and Mandi 69.8 mm, the local meteorological department said.

Uttarakhand

Heavy rains in Uttarakhand caused a surge in streams that damaged buildings and shops while landslides in the hills blocked national highways and a number of rural motor roads on Thursday.

A swirling stream in Khablisera village washed away eight shops in Uttarkashi district in the early hours on Thursday, the state emergency operation centre (SEOC) said.

Overnight excessive rains destroyed three houses at Agarchatti village near Gairsain in Chamoli district. Mud and slush also gushed into eight houses in Agarchatti, it said. However, no casualties were reported from anywhere.

Badkot and Purola in Uttarkashi district received 88 mm and 84 mm of rain, respectively while the district headquarters received 70 mm of rain. Chamoli gauged 62 mm of rain.

National highways leading to the Himalayan shrines of Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri were blocked by debris following landslides at different points, the SEOC said.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway (NH) was blocked at Narkota, Rishikesh-Yamunotri NH at Kharadi and Dabarkot and the Rishikesh-Gangotri NH at Ratudi-Sera, Bandarkot and Naitala, it said.

Tanakapur-Champawat-Ghaat national highway in Campawat district and Tyuni-Chakrata-Tehri-Maletha national highway in Dehradun district were also blocked by rubble at several places.

Steps are on to open all the blocked national highways, the emergency centre said. More than 160 rural roads in different districts were also blocked, it said.

Odisha

Heavy rain battered several districts of Odisha due to the intensified weather system, which crossed the state on Tuesday and has now weakened over Madhya Pradesh. It led to flooding of many villages and low-lying areas, disrupting road connectivity as some bridges over swollen rivers collapsed.

ଉପଗ୍ରହ ଦ୍ୱାରା ଉତ୍ତୋଳନ ହୋଇଥିବା ମେଘ ଖଣ୍ଡ ଗୁଡିକର ଚଳନ୍ତି ଚିତ୍ର
ଜାରି କଲା ଆଞ୍ଚଳିକ ପାଣିପାଗ ବିଭାଗ |#weather #odisharain #Weathercloud #ZeeOdishaNews pic.twitter.com/ZxMmfHHrIO

— ZEE Odisha News (@ZeeOdisha) August 11, 2022

Four north coastal districts recorded heavy to very heavy downpours due to the monsoon trough and a cyclonic circulation in the western parts of Gangetic West Bengal, the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre said.

Jajpur received very heavy rain of 150 mm over a 24-period till 8.30 am. Heavy downpour pounded Mayurbhanj as Sukruli recorded 89 mm of rain and district headquarters Baripada received 69 mm, according to a bulletin. Khaira in Balasore was battered by 79 mm of precipitation, followed by 78 mm at Ghasipura in Keonjhar. There was moderate rain in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and several districts.

A new low pressure may form over the northern Bay of Bengal around Saturday. The system can become more marked during the subsequent 24 hours and move west-northwestwards. The weather department warned of heavy downpour in Khurda, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Angul, Dhenkanal and Bargarh on Friday. It put out an orange warning of very heavy rain in many districts, including Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Rayagrada, on Saturday and Sunday.

Fisherfolks have been advised not to venture into the deep-sea area of northwest Bay of Bengal till Friday and off the coast from Saturday-Monday.

Madhya Pradesh

Two persons were swept away in swollen drains following heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh's Indore city and efforts are on to trace them, police officials said on Thursday.

#WATCH Madhya Pradesh: After heavy rainfall in Indore, many areas of the city were waterlogged. (10.08) pic.twitter.com/jaGjiHW8Kl

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) August 11, 2022

Chandan Nagar police station in-charge Abhay Nema said local residents informed them that a man, Zakir Khan (24), accidentally fell into a drain in Sirpur area of the city on Wednesday afternoon when he was trying to stop other people from entering the water body. Search is on for him with the help of divers and personnel of the State Disaster Response Force, he said.

In another incident on Wednesday night, a woman, Durga Jaiswal (26), was swept away in an overflowing drain in Banganga area.

Indore, Madhya Pradesh | Severe waterlogging in several areas of city as heavy rains continue to lash the district pic.twitter.com/hKZBguVIhl

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) August 10, 2022

"The woman lived in a house close to the drain. While throwing garbage from the rooftop of her house, she lost balance and fell into the drain, Banganga police station in-charge Rajendra Soni said. Efforts were on to trace the woman, he said.

A Meteorological department official said the rain intensity reduced in Indore in the last 24 hours, after heavy downpour on Tuesday. On Thursday morning, the city residents woke up to a relatively clear weather.

Jammu

Jammu city recorded 189.6 mm rain in 24 hours, the highest downpour in a day in almost 26 years, causing landslides and flash floods, meteorological department officials said on Thursday.

There were flash floods in most of the rivers, including Tawi and Chenab, which inundated low-lying areas and damaged infrastructure.

Two landslides were reported -- in Panjirthi and Circular Road -- causing damage to road, a building and some vehicles, the officials said. The flash floods damaged small bridges in Kalika Colony, washed out a wall of Satsang Garh, a spiritual centre, and a vehicle in Buntalab, they said.

Hundreds of houses in several colonies in low-lying areas were inundated and traffic came to a halt due to water-logging, prompting the district administration to sound a flood alert, they said.

According to the MeT department, this is the highest 24-hour rainfall in August for Jammu city since 1996. The city had recorded 218.4 mm of rainfall on 23 August, 1996.

The all-time highest rainfall, 228.6 mm, in Jammu city was recorded on 5 August, 1926, it said.

The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was closed for traffic due to landslides and mudslides, triggered by heavy rains in Ramban.

Reasi received 152.5 mm in 24 hours, followed by Udhampur (121.6 mm) and Samba (105 mm), the officials said. Katra town, which serves as the base camp for pilgrims visiting the Vaishno Devi temple in Reasi district, recorded a 77.8 mm rainfall in 24 hours, they said. Burmal in Kathua received 77.5 mm rainfall. At 11 am, river Tawi -- its gauge being monitored near Bikram Chowk -- was flowing at 9.5 feet, 4.5 feet below the 'alert level'.

At the same time at Salmay Bridge in Udhampur, it was flowing at 8.2 feet, 6.56 ft below the alert level, they said.

Water in river Chenab at Akhnoor was at 26.4 feet. The alert level for the site is 32 feet, they said.

With input from agencies

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