Monsoon downpours trigger floods and landslides as local weather change and El Nino disrupt rainfall patterns.
Printed On 5 Aug 2026
Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains have killed greater than 100 individuals throughout India since July, in keeping with official knowledge, with 1000’s pressured to flee flooded houses.
The annual monsoon brings rain that farmers rely upon, however scientists say local weather change is making it more and more lethal throughout South Asia.
Really helpful Tales
record of three objectsfinish of record
This yr’s toll spans a number of states. Assam has been hit hardest, with a minimum of 87 useless, and Sivasagar district alone accounting for 47.
Kerala has recorded a minimum of 15 deaths and 7 lacking after days of heavy rain, Chief Minister VD Satheesan stated, with greater than 10,000 individuals sheltering in additional than 300 aid camps within the state.
A report by the general public state broadcaster stated that Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir has seen a minimum of 31 killed by intense rain bursts.
Lightning strikes have killed a minimum of 14 individuals in Jharkhand, most of them farm staff caught in open fields. Jharkhand noticed greater than 200 deaths in 2025, primarily attributed to “lightning related to thunderstorms”, the India Meteorological Division stated in January.
Monsoon-related deaths are an annual incidence throughout India after the area’s lengthy summers when many elements of the nation face water shortage and drought.
The sample extends past India’s borders. In Sri Lanka, a minimum of eight deaths and 12,000 displaced from monsoon flooding have been recorded. This occurred whereas the nation’s jap areas had been within the grip of a extreme drought, with authorities having to move ingesting water for residents in tanker vehicles.
Sri Lanka’s authorities stated final month that the acute climate stems from this yr’s El Nino, a local weather sample that warms floor temperatures within the central and jap equatorial Pacific. It happens when regular east-to-west commerce winds weaken or reverse, pushing heat water eastward and considerably disrupting international climate and rainfall.
