The monsoon rains have wreaked havoc not just in Mumbai and Himachal Pradesh, but also across several countries such as Australia, where heavy rain that pummelled Sydney over the last five days eased on Thursday. At least 77 people died in rain-related incidents across Pakistan during the past three weeks, whereas in Malaysia flash floods have killed several.
A closer look at monsoon rains’ wrath across countries:
Mumbai
Three people were injured after a landslide near a chawl in Mumbai on July 6, as the city continued to witness heavy rains for the third day in a row, with no respite to citizens as many low-lying areas were water-logged causing traffic disruptions, officials said. An aggrieved citizen in a tweet said they now need a boat to commute, instead of a car.
A minor boy and two other persons were injured after a portion of a hill crashed on the two-storey Narayan Hadke Chawl (tenement) in Chunabhatti area, a civic official said. Three rooms in the chawl were damaged due to the landslide. As a precaution, the civic body has evacuated residents from other adjoining rooms in the chawl.
The IMD has issued a ‘red alert’ for south Konkan, Goa and south central Maharashtra from July 6-8. It said heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places during this period. It issued an ‘orange alert’ for north Konkan.
At least four people washed away after a cloudburst in the Parvati Valley of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh on July 6. Since the previous night, incidents of cloudbursts and landslides have been reported at many places in the state.
Pakistan
At least 77 people have died in rain-related incidents across Pakistan during the past three weeks, Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference here, Rehman said that the annual rainy season began on June 14 and its first phase would continue until the mid-August.
The current monsoon rains have claimed 77 lives, while 39 deaths were reported from Balochistan alone – the most from any province, she said. “The figure includes children, men and women. We are trying to reach out to locals with the help of the national and provincial disaster management authorities,” she said, adding that the downpour has wreaked havoc in Balochistan which was hit by flash floods.
The minister said that urban flooding had been reported in Quetta, Pasni and Turbat of Balochistan. She also said that Pakistan has received 87 per cent more rains than the average downpour during this part of the year. However, Balochistan received 274 per cent more downpour than the average while Sindh got 261 per cent more rains.
“This is definitely a national disaster for me…, she said. The minister warned that everyone should be prepared for more rains. “This is the beginning and we need to prepare for it,” she said.
Sydney
Floodwaters had inundated or were threatening the homes of 85,000 people around Sydney on July 6 as rivers started to recede and the heavy rains tracked north of Australias largest city.
While rain was easing across Sydney, several waterways including the Hawkesbury-Nepean rivers system on Sydneys northern and western fringes remained at major flood levels, Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said.
Emergency responders knocked on doors overnight in the towns of Singleton and Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, to order residents to evacuate, she said.
Bureau of Meteorology manager Jane Golding said the weather pattern that brought heavy rain to Sydney since Friday has moved off the coast north of the city of 5 million people. Heavy rain fell in the last 24 hours as far north as Coffs Harbor, 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Sydney, Golding said on July 6.
Bangladesh
The toll from Bangladesh’s unprecedented floods has risen to more than 100. According to a daily flood report of the Health Emergency Operation Center and Control Room on Sunday, the floods have killed 102 people in 27 of the 64 flood-affected districts between May 17 and June 28.
Most victims died from drowning, snake bites and lightning in the flood-hit areas, showed the report. At least 7 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours as of July 3 morning. The floods have caused widespread damage to houses and crops across vast swathes of northern and northeastern regions.
China
Chinese search and rescue officials pulled 12 bodies on July 4 from waters southwest of Hong Kong after an engineering vessel snapped in two as tropical storm Chaba passed through, state television said.
Maritime authorities of the southern province of Guangdong were stepping up efforts to identify the bodies, suspected to have drowned, after they were retrieved about 50 nautical miles from where the stricken ship sank, it added.
China’s first typhoon of the year, Chaba skirted Hong Kong but brought heavy rain and wind to southern provinces already water-logged from weeks of torrential rain and thunderstorms over the weekend.
It weakened into a tropical depression on July 4, but was expected to shower central and southern regions with heavy rain for several days as it moved north, forecasters said.
Malaysia
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has ordered immediate disaster relief for victims of the flash flood in Baling, Kedah, which has killed at least three people so far. “I feel sadness and sympathy over the catastrophic floods that have taken three lives,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
A report in Malay Mail said that a total of 334 victims from nine villages in Baling had been evacuated to several relief centres as of the morning of July 5 due to floods.
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