At least 50 people missing after flash floods in Indian Himalayan town, TV says
Visuals on local TV channels showed flood waters surging down a mountain and crashing into a hamlet at the foothills, sweeping away houses and a road in Uttarkashi town in the Himalayas.
There was likely to be damage because of an increase in water levels in the Harshil area of Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand police said in a post on X, asking residents to stay away from rivers.
Uttarakhand, which is located in the Himalayas, is increasingly prone to flash floods and landslides, which some experts blame on climate change.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Pakistani musicians use folk songs and rap to raise climate change awareness
Villagers hush when Pakistani folk musician Sham Bhai starts singing about climate change, her clear voice rising above the simple squat dwellings. 'We are the people of the south. The winds seem to be blowing from the north. The winds seem cold and warm. My heart is burned from seeing the collapsed houses in the rain. Oh, beloved, come home soon.' Sham is from Sindh, the Pakistani province worst-hit three years ago by climate-worsened deluges that affected tens of millions of people nationwide and washed away homes, farmland and infrastructure. She has toured a dozen villages in Sindh during the past two years, teaching people about climate adaptation and resilience through song, a useful medium for sharing information in places where literacy is low and internet is scarce. 'When we give a message through song, it is easy to communicate to people because they understand it,' the 18-year-old singer told The Associated Press. She was performing in Umerkot district, singing in her native tongue and official provincial language, Sindhi, which is more likely to be spoken and understood in places like Umerkot than the official and national language of Pakistan, Urdu. Sindh recorded more than 1,000 rain-related deaths in a few months in 2022. The damage remains visible. Broken roads and flattened houses that residents never rebuilt. Floods submerged swathes of Sham's district, Tando Allahyar. News footage showed people wading through waist-deep water. "The meaning of the song is that poor people's homes built on mud are not strong," Sham explains. "Women and children face hardship during the rains because they are vulnerable in the absence of men who go away to work. The women of the house call on their men to return because the weather is so bad.' Poverty and illiteracy deepen people's vulnerability Alternating patches of parched and lush farmland flank the road to Umerkot. Dry and wet spells buffet the province, and local farmers have to adapt. They now focus on winter crops rather than summer ones because the rain is more predictable in the colder months. 'The monsoon season used to come on time, but now it starts late,' farmer Ghulam Mustafa Mahar said. 'Sometimes there is no rain. All patterns are off-course due to climate change for the last five years.' He and others have switched from crops to livestock to survive. There is little infrastructure away from the center of the district. Children get excited seeing sedans crunch through the dust. The area is mostly poor and very hot. Sindh's literacy rate falls to 38% in rural areas. Sham said singing informs those who can't learn about climate change because they can't read. Mindful of their audience, the three singers warm people up with popular tunes to catch their attention before launching into mournful tunes about the wind and rain, their lyrics inspired by writers and poets from Sindh. ' People are acting on our advice; they are planting trees and making their houses strong to face climate change,' said Sham. ' Women and children suffer a lot during bad conditions, which damage their homes.' Women and girls of all ages can be seen working outdoors in Sindh, tending to crops or livestock. They gather food and water, along with wood for fuel. They are predominantly restricted to this type of work and other domestic chores because of gender norms and inequalities. When extreme weather strikes, they are often the first to suffer. One villager said when heavy rain battered homes in 2022, it crushed and killed whoever was inside, including children. One woman is rapping for climate justice People in rural areas have no idea what climate change is, said Urooj Fatima, an activist from the city of Jhuddo. Her stage name is Sindhi Chhokri, and she is known locally for campaigning on issues such as women's rights. But she has turned her attention to raising awareness about climate change since flooding devastated her village in 2022 and again in 2024. 'We can engage a lot of audiences through rap. If we go to a village and gather a community, there are a maximum of 50. But everyone listens to songs. Through rap, we can reach out to hundreds of thousands of people through our voice and our message.' She said hip-hop isn't common in Pakistan, but the genre resonates because of its tradition as an expression of life, hardship and struggle. She has yet to finish her latest climate change rap, but wrote one in response to the 2022 flooding in neighboring Balochistan, the country's poorest and least developed province, because she felt it wasn't getting enough attention. She performed it at festivals in Pakistan and promoted it across her social media accounts. Officials at the time said more help was needed from the central government for people to rebuild their lives. 'There are potholes on the road; the roads are ruined,' raps Urooj. 'I am telling the truth. Will your anger rain down on me? Where was the Balochistan government when the floods came? My pen thirsts for justice. Now they've succeeded, these thieving rulers. This isn't a rap song, this is a revolution.' She and her sister Khanzadi campaign on the ground and social media, protesting, visiting villages, and planting thousands of trees. She wants the Sindh government to take climate change awareness seriously by providing information and education to those who need it the most, people living in rural areas. 'This happens every year,' said Urooj, referring to the floods. 'Climate change affects a person's whole life. Their whole life becomes a disaster.' She cites the disproportionate and specific impact of climate change on women and girls, the problems they experience with displacement, education, hygiene, and nutrition, attributing these to entrenched gender discrimination. 'For women, there are no opportunities or facilities. And then, if a flood comes from above, they face more difficulties.' She elicits controversy in rural areas. Half the feedback she receives is negative. She is undeterred from speaking out on social taboos and injustice. 'Rap is a powerful platform. If our rap reaches just a few people, then this is a very good achievement. We will not let our voices be suppressed. We will always raise our voices high.' ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
About 100 people missing as flash flood tears through town in northern India
A torrent of mud from a flash flood has smashed into a town in India's Himalayan region, tearing down a mountain valley before demolishing buildings and killing at least four people, with about 100 others missing. Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away blocks of flats in the tourist region of Dharali in Uttarakhand state. Several people could be seen running before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris that uprooted buildings. The Indian defence minister, Sanjay Seth, told the Press Trust of India news agency: 'It is a serious situation … We have received information about four deaths and around 100 people missing. We pray for their safety.' The Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams had been deployed 'on a war footing'. A senior local official, Prashant Arya, said four people had been killed, with other officials saying that the number could rise. India's army said 150 troops had reached the town, helping to rescue about 20 people who had survived the wall of freezing sludge. 'A massive mudslide struck Dharali … triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the settlement,' the army said. Images released by the army, taken from the site after the main torrent had passed, showed a river of slow-moving mud. A swathe of the town was swamped by deep debris. In places, the mud lapped at the rooftops of houses. 'Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, with all available resources being deployed to locate and evacuate any remaining stranded persons,' an army spokesperson, Suneel Bartwal, said. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, expressed his condolences, and said that 'no stone is being left unturned in providing assistance'. Dhami said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense 'cloudburst', calling the destruction 'extremely sad and distressing'. The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning for the area, saying it had recorded 'extremely heavy' rainfall of about 21cm (8in) in isolated parts of Uttarakhand. Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say the climate crisis, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity. The UN's World Meteorological Organization said last year that more intense floods and droughts are a 'distress signal' for what is to come as climate breakdown makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable.
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Stockport couple drowned in Majorca flash floods, inquest told
A young couple were drowned in flash floods while on a hiking holiday in Majorca, an inquest has instructor and lifeguard Alexander Barrett, 32, tried to help his partner Sarah Thompson, 26, as a "wall of water" cascaded down the canyon they were descending with a group of other hikers, Stockport Coroner's Court were swept to their deaths, with Ms Thompson's body recovered by Spanish search and rescue teams on 4 September 2024, the day after the Barrett's body was found on September 6 in the Torrent de Pareis canyon in the Tramuntana mountains. Ms Thompson's father, Peter Thompson, said his daughter "was never without a smile on her face".She had represented Cumbria at fell running in national competitions, had a degree in photography from Manchester Metropolitan Rodman, Mr Barrett's father, said his son "loved life" and relished the outdoors, from hiking to surfing."The friends and family have developed a little saying, 'Be more like Alex' because that's what we aspire to be." Mr Rodman added: "He's missed so much by all his friends and family."The couple, from Offerton, near Stockport, had gone on the trip with friends, all hiking and climbing enthusiasts, to Weaver, who knew Mr Barrett as a friend and climbing instructor at an indoor climbing centre in Stockport, said in a statement read to the inquest that the group "had a mutual passion for climbing and hiking". Mr Weaver, who on the trip with his partner, said the planned planned - which was expected to take three to four hours - was known to be "challenging in places". He had completed the hike before on several occasions, but neither Ms Thompson nor Mr Barrett Mr Weaver said he considered it was "well within the capabilities" of the said he was aware the gorge flooded so he checked the weather forecast on the morning of 3 only predicted rain from 18:00 BST, by which time they would be "well clear".He dropped the group of friends off and planned to catch up with them after parking his car, but was delayed in heavy traffic by around two the afternoon it began to drizzle, but Mr Weaver said this did not cause any concern as he continued the hike. 'People screaming' He said as there was no phone signal in the gorge and he could not make contact with his Weaver said he spotted them with a German couple and two Spanish nationals in a "bottleneck" between two boulders."Water [then] appeared to come from nowhere. The sound was incredibly loud, people were screaming."Mr Weaver said he could see one of the group had managed to grab on to a rock while one of the Spanish nationals had been swept into the torrent and was being carried own partner managed to get out of the water and, after a few minutes, others emerged from the Mr Weaver said the noise of the water was too loud for them to Thompson was seen being swept away along with Mr Barrett, who had tried to help before the current took him too. Survivors who had suffered minor injuries were taken out of the gorge by Gill, assistant coroner for Manchester South, recorded a verdict of accidental death caused by drowning for both Ms Thompson and Mr Barrett."Sadly, both Sarah and Alex were unable to climb to safety and were swept away by the floodwaters," Ms Gill said. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
