At least 100 killed during record-breaking monsoon rains in India
Torrential downpours have triggered landslides and flash floods, leading to widespread destruction in the northern part of the country.
Worst flood in decades claims 66 lives as heavy monsoon rains soak northern India, triggering evacuations and stranding tourists, while experts blame climate change.
Weeks of relentless monsoon rains have killed at least 100 people in India and injured dozens more in treacherous landslides and flooding, government officials said Thursday.
The hardest hit state has been Himachal Pradesh, where at least 91 people have been killed between June 24 and July 13 due to the torrential downpours that have washed away vehicles, homes, buildings and bridges, according to AFP.
Other affected areas include:
• Twelve people died of rain-related incidents in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, government officials told The Associated Press.
• At least 10 were killed amid incessant rain and flash flooding in Punjab state.
• About a dozen people lost their lives in neighboring Uttarakhand state, including nine on Tuesday when debris fell on their vehicles on a national highway, officials told AFP.
"There is a huge loss of life and property, the loss is being assessed," Punjab water resources and revenue minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa told AFP.
Also, hundreds of tourists stranded in the Himalayas after floods severed road connections had to be airlifted to safety over the past week, Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told reporters, according to CNN. Rescue evacuations included about 250 tourists from Chandra Taal lake, a popular tourist destination in the southwest part of the Himalayas.
The monsoon brings South Asia around 80 percent of its annual rainfall and is vital both for agriculture and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. But it also brings destruction every year in the form of landslides and floods.
The city of Chandigarh, located in Punjab, received more than 30 inches of rain over the course of 48 hours. Many other weather stations recorded rainfall amounts close to a foot (300 mm) in the same timeframe. Shimla in Himachal Pradesh was inundated by 12.44 inches (316 mm) while nearby Sundernagar recorded 10.28 inches (261 mm).
Teams rescued at least 85 people near India’s Yamuna River from unusually heavy monsoon rains on July 14. Stray cows from an animal shelter were also rescued as the flood hit.
The Yamuna River, which snakes past the capital of New Delhi also in the north, recorded its highest levels since 1978 on Wednesday, with levels reaching 207.5 meters (681 feet), according to the Central Water Commission.
Delhi on Sunday marked its wettest July day in more than 40 years, authorities told CNN.
AccuWeather forecasters say floodwaters may take a significant time to recede even after the heaviest rainfall gradually comes to an end.
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