“Nature has been testing us. In the last few days, we have had to deal with landslides, cloudbursts and other natural calamities,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the start of a nearly two-hour speech on the country’s 79th Independence Day.
A cloudburst, according to the Indian Meteorological Department, is a sudden, intense downpour of over 100mm of rain in just one hour that can trigger sudden floods, landslides, and devastation, especially in mountainous regions during the monsoon.
In neighbouring Nepal, at least 41 people have died, 21 are missing and 121 injured in floods, heavy rains, landslides and hailstorms since early monsoon rains started in June this year, according to data provided by the country’s disaster management authority.
And more than 50 people were killed overnight in rain-related incidents across the mountainous north of Pakistan, rescue officials said on Friday. Flooding and the collapse of the roofs of houses caused the deaths.
In Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where eight people were killed – including six members of a family buried in the debris of their home – evacuation operations were ongoing for stranded domestic tourists.
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