Heavy Downpour & Flash Floods Cause Havoc In India, China & Nepal

PICTURE COURTESY: pravasisamwad.com

After the flood in Texas now India’s mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh has been left reeling after it was hit by rainstorms, flash floods and with dozens of people reported missing. Hundreds of homes, bridges, roads and electricity pylons in the north Indian state were washed away after 23 flash floods and 16 landslides caused by unusually heavy rainfall over the weekend. There were also 19 cloudbursts, in which an enormous amount of rain falls in a sudden deluge, according to a report by the Himachal Pradesh state government.

While a record downpour in China’s central province of Hubei dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours on the city of Xianfeng, causing flash floods. 18,000 people were moved away to safety. Floods in the central province of Henan killed three people, with five missing after more than 220 mm (9 inches) of rain fell.

A flash flood in Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River along its border with China has swept away the key Miteri Bridge today. The Bhotekoshi River forms the border between Nepal and China. The flooding was triggered by heavy rainfall on the Chinese side and caused extensive damage to infrastructure in the Timure area on the Nepali side. The heavy rainfall in the Tibetan region may have triggered the flood.

The Geological Survey of India has issued a landslide warning for four districts in Uttarakhand — Tehri, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, and Chamoli. The alert warns of potential landslides on July 7 and 8 in several subdivisions, including Chamoli, Ukhimath, Ghansali, Narendra Nagar, Dhanaulti, Dunda, and Chinyalisaur.

Meteorologists blame climate change for heavier and more frequent rain. Himachal Pradesh, a state that spans the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas, has suffered repeatedly in recent years as the climate emergency has led to the monsoon rains becoming erratic and falling in more intense, unmanageable bursts. Communities in mountainous and rural areas are particularly vulnerable to flash floods and lack forecasting capabilities. Himachal Pradesh has reported 23 flash floods, followed by 19 cloud burst incidents and 16 landslides, since the onset of the monsoon on June 20.

Climate Change is causing extreme & sudden rain, which drop more water in shorter periods of time and make dangerous floods more likely. The warmer the atmosphere gets, the more water it’s able to hold, and subsequently dump over land, according to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Coastal and hilly areas at flooding risk. The challenges faced by Himachal Pradesh are a component of a larger story of climate vulnerability prevalent in Indian cities. The impact of climate change on extreme weather events, particularly floods and droughts, is intensifying. The heating of the Planet and rising temperatures disrupt the hydrological process, which in turn can result in either floods or droughts depending on the specific geographic area .Climate change impacts global weather patterns, leading to more frequent and intense extreme weather events.

Rich countries, responsible for the lion’s share of the greenhouse gases that are heating the atmosphere and fueling extreme events, should recognise their historic responsibility and step up their funding to the Loss and Damage Fund to help other countries cope and recover from extreme weather.

In 2024, global warming caused by human-caused carbon emissions has reached the 1.5°C temperature threshold identified in the Paris agreement. This planetary fever is causing widespread heatwaves, droughts, cyclones and floods which can be directly attributed to human greenhouse gases emissions and that are causing enormous damages.

The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy