The India Meteorological Department has issued flash flood alerts for eight states and two union territories, warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over the coming days.
The states under alert are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Isolated areas of Chhattisgarh are forecast to receive rainfall exceeding 204.5mm, with high-risk districts including Gaurela, Pendra, Marwahi, Balrampur and Surguja facing extremely heavy rain.
Northern Odisha districts including Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Sambalpur have been flagged for flash flood risk, with strong winds of 40-50 kmph also expected in coastal areas.
The alert period varies by region, with some warnings running through September 2 and others, including Uttarakhand’s, extending as far as September 8.
In Chhattisgarh, isolated areas are forecast to receive rainfall exceeding 204.5mm, with high-risk districts including Gaurela, Pendra, Marwahi, Balrampur, Surguja and nine others facing extremely heavy rain.
Northeast India could see 115.6mm to 204.4mm of rainfall in isolated pockets, while northern Odisha is forecast to receive widespread heavy rainfall through the alert period.
In northern Odisha, districts including Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Sambalpur have been flagged for flash flood risk, alongside strong winds of 40-50 kmph expected in coastal areas.
The IMD said the alert period varies by region, with some warnings running through September 2 and others extending as far as September 7 depending on local conditions.
Uttarakhand is separately forecast to see very heavy rainfall through September 8, one of the longer alert windows among the affected states.
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are both under flash flood warnings, adding to the list of hill and northern regions bracing for the current spell.
IMD’s flash flood warnings are typically issued when very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is expected in a short window, raising the risk of sudden waterlogging, landslides and river-level surges.
NASA Earth Observatory, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 (representative monsoon rainfall image)
