46 dead after heavy rains, landslides in northern India - New York Post

tederes.blogspot.com

LUCKNOW, India — At least 46 people have died and several are missing after floods triggered by heavy rains hit the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, officials said Wednesday.

Rescuers worked through the night to retrieve bodies stuck in debris and to evacuate those in vulnerable areas, said S A Murugeshan, secretary of the state’s disaster management. On Tuesday, officials said 22 people were killed by the rains.

The mountainous state has seen incessant rains for the past three days, flooding roads, destroying bridges and causing landslides in which several homes were washed away. The situation has prompted help from more than 2,000 members of the paramilitary and civil police.

The Indian Meteorological Department said the rains were likely to recede in Uttarakhand on Wednesday, but warned of more heavy downpours in the country’s northeastern and southern regions.

India’s National Disaster Response Force personnel rescue civilians stranded following heavy rains at Chhara village near Nainital, Uttarakhand.

AP

The majority of the deaths in Uttarakhand were reported in the picturesque town of Nainital, where 28 people were killed on Tuesday, said Murugeshan. Most of the deaths were caused by homes and buildings collapsing in the torrential rains, he added.

In Mukteshwar, a popular hill station in the state, five laborers died when a wall collapsed on their shanty. In another hilly town, Ramgarh, nine members of a family died as the rains washed away their home, the official said.

Videos shared on social media showed the Ganges River bursting its banks at Rishikesh, and the scenic Nainital Lake overflowing with floodwaters.

Experts say the magnitude of the rains has been staggering. Uttarakhand saw 17.8 centimeters (7 inches) of rain in the first few weeks this month, but recorded nearly 58 centimeters (22.8 inches) within just 22 hours on Tuesday, said Bikram Singh, the director of the Meteorological Center in Dehradun, the state’s capital city.

Nainital remained cut off from the rest of the state as roads leading to it were either blocked by landslides or washed away.

AP

He said climate change has not only increased the frequency of the rains, but also their intensity.

India has seen worrisome rains across several regions this week. Flooding and landslides caused by downpours over the week have killed at least 39 people in the southern Kerala state, which is on high alert for more rains in the coming days.

Landslides and floods are common in India’s Himalayan north. Scientists say they are becoming more frequent as global warming contributes to the melting of glaciers there.

In February, flash floods killed nearly 200 people and washed away houses in Uttarakhand. In 2013, thousands of people were killed in floods there.

Hotel guests stand on the roof of Lemon Tree hotel, as the hotel gets flooded with the waters from an overflowing Kosi River in Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand.

AP

NDRF soldiers rescue people stranded in floodwaters in Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand.

AP

An under construction bridge is seen collapsed on a river along a national highway between Pithoragarh-Champawat, in Chalthi on October 19, 2021 following heavy rainfalls in northern India.

AFP via Getty Images

People carry their belongings wade through a waterlogged area along the bank of river Ganga in the town of Haridwar.

Xinhua/Sipa USA

Adblock test (Why?)

"heavy" - Google News
October 20, 2021 at 02:57PM
https://ift.tt/3aQHiG5

46 dead after heavy rains, landslides in northern India - New York Post
"heavy" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35FbxvS
https://ift.tt/3c3RoCk
heavy

Bagikan Berita Ini