50 dead in areas affected by cloudburst in Himachal, says minister; heavy rain to continue in Kerala
Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh on Saturday said that around 50 people are feared dead in the areas affected by the cloud-burst incidents. Singh said an official number can only be declared after an official confirmation and the completion of the search and rescue operation.
The minister on Saturday told news agency ANI, that the government’s biggest priority at the moment is to retrieve the bodies and restore connectivity in the flood-stricken parts of the state.
The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rain for the state till August 7 with CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announcing ₹50,000 for all families affected by the flash floods in the state.
IMD on Saturday also issued a red alert for Gujarat, West Madhya Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, and Meghalaya regions for August 3, 2024. The IMD has also predicted isolated, extremely heavy rainfall very likely over Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa and Meghalaya on Saturday in its daily forecast bulletin released at 2:30 pm.
On Saturday, thunderstorms accompanied by lightning is very likely at isolated places over Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Bihar, predicted the Met Office.
In Maharashtra, a red alert has been issued in Satara district for August 3 and 4 predicting extremely heavy rain on August 4 in Palghar and Pune districts. Very heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places over Vidarbha on August 3, and over Marathwada region on August 3 and 4, predicted IMD.
IMD has also predicted isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa regions on August 4 and heavy rainfall from August 3 to 6 and August 3 to 7 for Madhya, Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa respectively.
IMD has predicted fairly widespread to widespread, light to moderate rainfall over Coastal Karnataka, Lakshadweep and Kerala and Mahe, and Karnataka sub-divisions during the next 5 days and isolated to scattered rainfall over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Telangana and Rayalaseema subdivisions during the same period.
Over Kerala and Mahe and, Tamil Nadu, IMD has predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places very likely till August 5 with Kerala still reeling from the Wayanad landslide tragedy which has claimed over 300 lives.
During the past 24 hours, very to heavy rainfall at isolated places has been recorded over Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, Coastal Karnataka, South Interior Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Maharashtra regions and heavy rainfall at isolated places has been recorded over Kerala, Punjab, East Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Saurashtra and Kutch, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Konkan and Goa, Bihar, Odisha, North Interior Karnataka, West Bengal and Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura regions as well.