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.