A surge of flood water tore through a mountainous village in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead and many others missing, officials say.
Dramatic video from the Himalayan village of Dharali shows the wall of water, mud and debris tearing down the mountainside and through the village, destroying the homes and businesses in its path. The flooding occurred around 1:45 p.m. local time, according to Uttarkashi District Magistrate Prashant Arya.
At least four people were killed, Arya said. “There are a lot of guest houses, restaurants and hotels there, because of which we immediately requested the army to aid rescue operations,” he said.
At least 20 people have been rescued and search is underway for the missing, Lt. Col. Manish Shrivastava, a defense spokesperson in Uttarakhand, said shortly after the disaster Tuesday.
Dozens of people could be trapped or missing and many homes have been washed away, disaster response officials have said. Authorities are trying to pin down the exact number of people missing or still in need of rescue. Arya said around a dozen hotels were washed away in Tuesday’s flood, the Associated Press reported.
Arya suggested the flood that devastated Dharali was set off by a sudden bout of heavy rain, also called a cloudburst. “There’s a river there and because of the cloudburst, a lot of water came suddenly,” Arya said.
Cloudbursts can cause extreme rainfall in localized areas and they typically lead to flash flooding. They occur in the foothills of the Himalayas and are triggered in part by the topography — which also makes the flooding more dangerous. The India Meteorological Department defines a cloudburst as having a rainfall rate over 100 mm (4 inches) per hour.
Cloudbursts can cause extreme damage and destruction as incredible amounts of water are funneled through the mountains and valleys and into villages in a short period of time.
CNN has not confirmed this flooding was caused by a cloudburst. There are other possible causes of an event like this, including glacial lake outbursts, dam failures or sudden releases of water from upstream. Glacial lake outbursts occur when natural ice dams weaken as they melt and collapse, sending sudden, unexpected torrents of water down steep terrain. They are most likely to occur at this time of year.
India’s Meteorological Department had their highest level of warnings in place for “extremely heavy” rainfall across Uttarakhand. Some portions of the state, which is especially prone to flooding, received as much as 300 mm (12 inches) in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning.
India receives the majority of its annual rainfall during the Southwest Monsoon, which lasts from June through September. Agriculture and livelihoods depend on the heavy summer storms, but the storms can also bring such torrential downpours and flooding that the infrastructure in the region can’t handle.
CNN’s Jennifer Hauser and Esha Mitra contributed to this report.
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