A massive cloudburst hit Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district late at night, turning Thach village into a nightmare of floods and destruction. The disaster struck around 12:10 AM on Friday, when three nearby mountain streams suddenly swelled up, sweeping away two vehicles and wrecking fields, orchards, and homes.
Terrified villagers ran for their lives, abandoning their houses and heading to nearby forests as the raging waters tore through the area. Among the vehicles lost were those owned by Praveen Moyan and Hari Bisht. In the nearby Mastan village, floodwaters carried off parts of homes and even a cowshed. Several apple orchards—vital for locals—got completely destroyed, and houses belonging to villagers like Ranveer and three others are now teetering on the edge of collapse.
The chaos didn’t stop there. In Shimla, the state capital, a landslide near Edward School blocked traffic and shut down the key Circular Road. Over in Kumarsain’s Karevathi area, a three-storey house came crashing down, showing just how widespread the heavy rainfall damage has become across Himachal Pradesh.
This latest tragedy adds to the mounting toll from monsoon disasters in the hill state. So far, 424 people have lost their lives due to floods and landslides this season, with damages piling up daily. Just two days earlier, on September 17, flash floods and landslides killed four and left six missing in various parts. More than 650 roads, including three national highways, are still blocked, cutting off access to electricity, drinking water, and other essentials.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has officially declared Himachal Pradesh a disaster-hit state. He estimates the total damage from the past three years at over Rs 20,000 crore and has urged the central government for immediate financial aid and full relief support.
The relentless rains have been brutal. On September 16, another cloudburst in Mandi district devastated Dharampur, washing away HRTC buses, private cars, and flooding homes and shops. Locals say it was even worse than the devastating 2015 floods, with the Saun rivulet overflowing and submerging everything in sight.
As the monsoon fury continues, both residents and authorities in Himachal Pradesh are struggling to cope with the endless destruction. Stay tuned for updates on flood relief efforts and road reopening in the state.
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