Northern India was battered by heavy rains, causing flooding and landslides that closed schools and left at least 22 people dead, according to officials and local media.
Most of the precipitation categorized as extreme rain — more than 20 centimeters, or about 8 inches — was concentrated in the northern tip of India; the state of Punjab recorded 35 centimeters, according to the department.
The department issued a “red alert” for the state of Himachal Pradesh, forecasting flooding and landslides on Monday and advising residents to stay away from “vulnerable structures.” The state was already hit hard by the extreme weather over the weekend, with landslides and instances of severe flooding reported. At least seven people died in landslides there, including three members of a family who perished when a house collapsed, the Times of India reported.
More than two dozen people were stranded overnight this weekend after a river “changed its course,” leaving the people “stuck in the middle of the river,” said Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. Tourists stranded in parts of the state because of damaged roads were set to be evacuated by “road or air, as soon as the weather permits.” The chief minister said he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday about the situation.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, said schools would be closed there Monday after the city — one of the most populated metros in the world and home to the capital, New Delhi — was lashed by “torrential rains” over the weekend.
India is in the midst of its monsoon season, which typically brings heavy rains and flooding. In July 2021, a bout of landslides and floods killed at least 127 people. Extreme flooding in northern India in 2013 left thousands dead. Research has shown that climate change threatens to make extreme flooding more intense and more frequent.
Intense rains also wreaked havoc elsewhere in the world this weekend, with floods in the northeastern United States killing at least one person and torrential rains and landslides in Japan leaving at least three dead.