As at least 14 people killed by flash flooding in northeast India

A rescue mission is underway to find over 100 missing people in India’s northeast. Flash floods happened in the state of Sikkim, causing destruction and killing 14 people. Roads and bridges were also washed away.

The Himalayan region, also called the rooftop of the world, is sensitive to the environment. It often experiences sudden floods and landslides, and flooding is common in Sikkim.

Scientists are certain that very bad weather is happening more often and getting worse due to climate change caused by humans.

A heavy rainstorm happened over Lhonak Lake in the north of the state. This caused fast-moving floods in the Teesta River in Sikkim’s Lachen valley. The floods made the water levels rise 15-20 feet higher than usual. The Indian Army provided this information in a statement. A cloudburst is a powerful rainstorm that comes on suddenly and causes a lot of damage.

A video from the northern part of the state shows a lot of dirty water quickly overflowing the river, causing houses to flood with mud and debris.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shared pictures that showed how much water was released from Lhonak Lake after a sudden heavy rain. They published these images while the search was still ongoing.

Lhonak Lake is a big, bullet-shaped lake made from melting ice at the bottom of a glacier.

An examination of the pictures reveals that over 60% of the water in the lake flowed out after a heavy rainstorm caused a glacial lake to overflow. This happens when a lake made of melted ice from a glacier gets too full, or if the land or ice around it breaks, causing the lake to burst. This sends water and debris rushing down the mountains.

In one picture, the lake was big and had 167. 4 hectares of water on September 28. But in another picture taken on October 4, the lake was much smaller and had only about 60. 3 hectares of water in it.

The lake burst and around 105 hectares of land got flooded, which could cause a sudden flood downstream in the Teesta River, according to ISRO.

The floods in Pakyong, a city in Sikkim, caused the most damage. Seven people died and 59 people are missing, according to the Sikkim government.

Many members of the Indian Army are missing and their whereabouts are not known. A big search and rescue operation is being done to find the missing soldiers. But it is difficult because heavy rain is causing floods, making it hard to use the roads and bridges have been destroyed. The army said this.

According to the army, one soldier has been saved and is doing well, but 22 other soldiers are still missing.

The government said that the flooding caused at least 11 bridges to collapse. This made it difficult for rescue teams to get to affected areas and also prevented people from reaching remote places.

In Gangtok, the biggest city and capital of the state, three people have died and 22 others are missing.

Over 2,000 people have been moved to safer places and special areas have been arranged in different parts of the state to assist over 22,000 people affected by the sudden floods.

The weather department in India has predicted that there will be a lot of rain in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country, including Sikkim, for the next two days.

Sikkim’s leader Prem Singh Tamang wrote on X (previously known as Twitter) that he has sent help to the areas that have been affected by the emergency. He has also visited Singtam, a town that has been damaged by the flooding, to see the destruction and talk to the people there. Singtam is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) away from Gangtok.

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, described the situation as a terrible disaster caused by nature. He assured that he will provide any help needed to deal with the problem.

“He said a prayer for the safety and good health of everyone who has been affected,” he wrote on X.

Himalayan glaciers supply water to rivers that give freshwater to two billion people. Lots of communities rely on these glacier waters to water their crops.

A recent report said that as temperatures get hotter, the glaciers could lose up to 80% of their ice by 2100. This could cause more floods, landslides, avalanches, and drought.

As ice glaciers melt quickly all over the world, around 15 million people who live close to glacial lakes are in danger of dangerous floods caused by the bursting of these lakes. Most of these people live in four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru, and China. A study conducted earlier this year revealed this information.

Experts previously told CNN that these lake bursts are similar to an “inland tsunami” and their effects are similar to when a dam suddenly breaks.

The floods that occur afterwards happen suddenly and without much warning. In the past, when glacial lakes burst, it caused the deaths of thousands of people and damaged both property and important infrastructure.

In 2021, a big piece of ice from a mountain in the Himalayas fell down in Uttarakhand. This caused a lot of water, dust, and rocks to flow down the mountain and hit two electric power plants. Sadly, this event caused the death of at least 38 people.

In the northern part of India, people have been cautioning for many years about uncontrolled business growth, cutting down forests, and continuously constructing dams in the delicate area. These actions are making the region more prone to disasters, such as floods and landslides.