2013 North India floods

2013 Northern Indian Floods
NASA satellite imagery of Northern India on 17 June, showing rainclouds that led to the disaster
LocationUttarakhand
Himachal Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Nepal
Sudurpashchim Pradesh
Karnali Pradesh
Some parts of Tibet
Deaths6,054[1]
Property damage4,550 villages were affected [2]

In June 2013, a mid-day cloudburst centered on the North Indian state of Uttarakhand caused devastating floods and landslides, becoming the country's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. The rainfall received that month was far greater than the rainfall the state usually received. Debris blocked the rivers, causing major overflow. The main day of the flood was 16 June 2013.

Though some parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in India experienced the heavy rainfall, some regions of Western Nepal and some parts of Western Tibet also experienced heavy rainfall. Over 89% of the casualties occurred in Uttarakhand. As of 16 July 2013, according to figures provided by the Government of Uttarakhand, more than 5,700 people were "presumed dead."[3] This total included 934 local residents.[4] The death toll was later placed at 6,054.[1]

Destruction of bridges and roads left about 300,000 pilgrims and tourists trapped in the valleys leading to three of the four Hindu Chota Char Dham pilgrimage sites.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The Indian Air Force, the Indian Army and paramilitary troops evacuated more than 110,000 people from the flood-ravaged area.[6]

  1. ^ a b UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction; Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. "Human cost of disasters - An overview of the last 20 years 2000-2019" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. ^ Kumar, Siddhartha (15 July 2013). "5,748 feared dead after India floods". IOL News. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  3. ^ "India raises flood death toll to 5,700 as all missing persons now presumed dead". CBS News. 16 July 2013. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  4. ^ "India says 5,748 missing in floods now presumed dead" , Fox News, 15 July 2013
  5. ^ Kala, C. P. (2014). "Deluge, tire disaster and development in Uttarakhand Himalayan region of India: Challenges and lessons for disaster management". International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 8: 143–152. doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.03.002.
  6. ^ a b "Uttarakhand: Army Commander walks with 500 people out of Badrinath". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh battered by rain: death toll rises to 130, more than 70,000 stranded". NDTV. 19 June 2013. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  8. ^ "Heavy rain lashes north India, 50 killed". The Times of India. 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kedarnath HT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Chandramohan, C.K. (23 June 2013). "Uttarakhand floods: Over 10,000 rescued amidst misery and devastation". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  11. ^ "India Intensifies its Rescue Efforts". The Wall Street Journal. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2013.