Danger of floods after cloudburst in Chamoli
Several houses were buried under debris following a cloudburst near the Barsali forests of Karnaprayag in Chamoli district early this morning. Also, many vehicles were swept away in the Pindar river, resulting in closure of the Badrinath highway.
The incident occurred around 7 am yesterday and the scale of damage was so intense that vehicles were swept away in the Pindar river. However, no casualties have been reported so far.
Residents said the effect of the cloudburst was so severe that small rain-fed drains near Latugair got flooded.
Police and administration officials reached the place and began rescue operations that were on till the filing of the report. Reports of another cloudburst incident in Kaliyana village of the Barakot block in Champawat district were received. However, Tehri Garhwal CMO Dr Vinod Tolia said they had not received any information about it.
Rain breaks 10 year record in Pithoragarh
With a downpour of 87.5 mm in five hours in Pithoragarh yesterday, all previous records of rainfall in May were broken. The Disaster Management Department said today’s downpour had broken records of the past 10 years. However, the period might be extended up to the past 50 years if records could be sought. “While Pithoragarh town witnessed a record 87.5 mm rainfall, it was scanty in Dharchula, Munsiyari, Didiihat and Gangolihat sub- divisions where 3 mm, 0.5 mm and 24 mm of rain, respectively, was recorded,” said RS Rana, Disaster Management Officer, Pithoragarh.
