16 killed by wall collapse after torrential rain inundates western India
While its advance will be stalled through Sunday, there are signs that the monsoon will finally commence around Delhi this week as the greatest risks for flooding shift from Mumbai to eastern parts of India.
Mumbai endured an onslaught of torrential rain as nearly 152 mm (6.02 inches) poured down from Friday morning to the early nighttime hours, local time.
This was the first heavy rain event since the monsoon began about two weeks behind schedule, which officials told the Times of India that the season's delayed start was the longest in 45 years. The monsoon typically is declared in Mumbai around June 10.
Streets became flooded and motorists faced disruptions across parts of the city.
Three people died due to separate electrocution incidents amid the heavy rain, according to the Times of India. Five people sustained injures in other rain-related issues, including when a retaining wall collapsed in the city's Dadar suburb on Friday afternoon.
A 4.5-meter (15-foot) high wall collapsed on a cluster of tin-roofed huts housing migrant workers and their families in western India early Saturday following heavy rains, killing at least 16 people, according to the Associated Press. This happened in the city of Pune.
Additional periods of rain will follow into early this week. While the frequency of downpours will be less than what the city is enduring, any bursts of heavy rain could easily trigger new flooding or exacerbate ongoing issues.
People walk through a road during a rain in Hyderabad, India, on Monday, June 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Elsewhere in eastern and southern India, where the monsoon has officially been declared, localized flash flooding and lightning dangers will remain present in many areas through Sunday. An eight-year-old boy was struck by lightning in Maharashtra's Palghar District on Thursday. He later died, according to the Times of India.
Early this week, the risk for flooding is expected to ramp up across eastern India after a monsoon low forms over the northern Bay of Bengal and then tracks westward.
"Through this week, the heaviest rain associated with this low will spread from Odisha to eastern Maharashtra," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls said.
Frequent downpours may also stream onto the coast of Bangladesh and Myanmar and spread from West Bengal to eastern or central Madhya Pradesh during the first days of July.
While the heavy rain will aid in the rainfall shortages experienced by the delayed start to the monsoon, flash flooding can develop and endanger residents. Mudslides can be triggered in the higher terrain.
The long-awaited start to the monsoon may come to the National Capital Region as the storm tracks westward.
In a typical year, the monsoon would be currently underway around the NCR. Instead, residents continue to face dangerous heat and poor air quality.
Temperatures are expected to climb to around 43 C (110 F) daily in the NCR through Monday. The hottest locations from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh may face highs of 46 C (115 F).
"The monsoon may finally commence around the NCR between July 2-6," said Nicholls, who first warned that the monsoon would be slow to arrive back in April.
However, Nicholls does not anticipate an immediate onslaught of widespread heavy rain during the first days of the monsoon in the NCR.
"Downpours should generally be isolated in nature initially," he said.
Actual temperatures may not soar as high as what is expected into Sunday during that time, but AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures can be just as extreme as humidity becomes even more sweltering.
Flash floods are very dangerous and can strike with little to no warning. Here are just a few of the ways they are caused and what areas are most at risk.
This week will not bring the start of the monsoon to all of northwestern India.
"While the monsoon may reach the NCR this week, places near the border of Pakistan and India will have to wait longer," Nicholls said. "The monsoon may advance to these areas by mid-July or a little earlier."
As far western India waits for the start of the monsoon, Nicholls is also concerned for another monsoon low to develop near Bangladesh around July 7-8. This low can then track westward and threaten northeastern India with more flooding.
"That monsoon low may not track as far to the west as this week's low," Nicholls said.
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