Officials reported on Sunday that at least 25 people have died in the Northeast as a result of days of nonstop monsoon rains that caused flash floods and extensive landslides.
Five individuals, including three members of one family, were killed when a mudslide buried multiple residences in Guwahati, Assam. The tragedy happened while the city was battered by torrential rains, which weakened the slopes and led to new warnings from local authorities. Three additional people were killed by floods, two of them died in Golaghat and one in Lakhimpur. After a car was washed away by rushing floodwaters, neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China, reported seven fatalities. The state now has nine fatalities after two persons drowned in another incident.
Eight deaths have been reported across Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya over the past 24 hours. Authorities blamed the deaths on a mix of landslides and flash flooding brought on by the relentless rain. Three days of nonstop rain in Manipur have completely stopped normal activities in Imphal, the state capital. Authorities have issued flood warnings and urged residents living along the Imphal River’s floodplains to evacuate after reports of waterlogging were received from various parts of the city.
Due to landslides brought on by the constant rains, the main route in north Sikkim was closed, leaving almost 1,500 tourists stuck in various locations. Earlier this week, a car carrying 11 tourists crashed into the Teesta river in Mangan region, killing one person, injuring two, and leaving eight more missing. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of continued heavy rainfall across the region in the coming days. It has issued red and orange alerts for parts of Assam and issued orange and yellow alerts for the rest of the northeastern region.
In Assam, a total of 17 districts were hit by floods and landslides and over 78,000 people were affected, with over 1,200 taking shelter in five different relief camps. Lakhimpur is the worst-hit district with more than 41,600 people affected, according to news agency. When teams from the NDRF, SDRF, police, and fire services moved civilians to safety in flood-affected Assam, relief and rescue efforts went into overdrive.
Two districts’ educational institutions stayed closed on Saturday, and Guwahati airport’s aircraft operations were hampered on Friday by strong winds and rain, according to officials. In Arunachal Pradesh, relief and rescue efforts are also in progress. The administration and disaster management department is assessing the damage and offering affected families immediate assistance.
