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Climate Change

India searches for 23 missing soldiers after intense rain and flash flood

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(Last Updated On: October 4, 2023)

The Indian army said Wednesday that 23 soldiers were missing after a powerful flash flood caused by intense rainfall tore through a remote valley in the mountainous northeast Sikkim state.

A video released by an Indian army spokesman showed a thick torrent of raging brown water sweeping down a thickly forested valley, with roads washed away and power lines ripped down.

“Due to sudden cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim, a flash flood occurred in the Teesta River… 23 personnel have been reported missing and some vehicles are reported submerged under the slush,” the army said in a statement. “Search operations are underway.”

The area is close to India’s border with Nepal and China and boasts a sizeable military presence. Lhonak Lake sits at the base of a glacier in the snowy peaks that surround Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest mountain, AFP reported.

The army said water released upstream from the Chungthang dam meant the river was already more than 4.5 meters higher than usual.

India has been wary of its northern neighbor’s growing military assertiveness and their 3,500-kilometer shared frontier has been a perennial source of tension, with parts of Sikkim claimed by Beijing.

Clashes in January 2021 left injuries on both sides in Naku La pass, which connects Sikkim with Tibet on the Chinese side, AFP reported.

China and India, who fought a border war in 1962, have posted tens of thousands of troops into border zones.

Flash floods are common during the monsoon season, which begins in June and normally withdraws from the Indian subcontinent by the end of September. By October, the heaviest of the monsoon rains are usually over.

Experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.

Streets swamped

Other photographs shared by the army showed water submerging the first floor of buildings, and flowing down a street in a town with only the tip of a small construction crane visible poking out.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said emergency services were working to support those impacted by the ferocious floods.

“I humbly urge all our citizens to remain vigilant and refrain from unnecessary travel during this critical time,” he wrote on social media.

In neighboring West Bengal state, people were being evacuated from the districts of Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri and taken to safer places.

The monsoon occurs when summer heat warms the landmass of the subcontinent, causing the air to rise and suck in cooler Indian Ocean winds, which then produce enormous volumes of rain.

But it also brings destruction every year in the form of landslides and floods.

Melting glaciers add to the volume of water while unregulated construction in flood-prone areas exacerbates the damage.

Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than ever before due to climate change, exposing communities to unpredictable and costly disasters.

Glaciers disappeared 65 percent faster from 2011 to 2020 compared with the previous decade, a report in June by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warned.

Based on current emissions trajectories, the glaciers could lose up to 80 percent of their current volume by the end of the century, it said.

Climate Change

Afghanistan a victim of climate change, says Muttaqi

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(Last Updated On: May 13, 2024)

The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, met with Edem Wosornu, UNOCHA Director of Operations and Advocacy on Monday in Kabul and said although Afghanistan plays no role in the “destruction of the climate”, the country continues to suffer from this phenomenon.

Muttaqi appealed to countries contributing to the climate change problem to act responsibly as they are not doing anything in terms of compensating countries suffering the effects of climate change.

This comes just days after heavy rains claimed the lives of over 300 people in northern Afghanistan as flash floods hit the area.

Muttaqi meanwhile also said that Afghanistan should be allowed to participate at global climate change meetings and the country should have access to funding.

Wosornu in turn expressed her willingness to send UNOCHA teams to flood affected areas as soon as possible.

She also said they try to keep humanitarian needs and politics separate.

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Climate Change

Rescuers race to reach those trapped by floods in China’s Guangdong

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(Last Updated On: April 22, 2024)

WATCH: Rescuers on boats in China’s flood-ravaged Guangdong province raced to evacuate trapped residents, carrying some elderly people by piggyback from their homes and deploying helicopters to save villagers caught in rural landslides.

The southern Chinese province has been battered by unusually heavy, sustained and widespread rainfall since Thursday, with powerful storms ushering in an earlier-than-normal start to the region’s annual flooding season, Reuters reported.

Eleven people were missing in Guangdong by Monday morning, the state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported without giving further details.

Across the province, 53,741 people have been relocated, with 12,256 people being urgently resettled, Xinhua reported, citing the provincial government.

The cities of Shaoguan, Qingyuan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen to the west and north of the provincial capital Guangzhou have been particularly hard hit.

In Qingyuan, houses and shops along the Bei River were submerged as the Pearl River tributary swelled, local media reported.

Aerial footage showed flood waters overwhelming a nearby town, leaving only roofs and treetops untouched.

Rescuers in Qingyuan tackled muddy waters, neck-high in some areas, to extract residents, including an elderly lady trapped in waist-deep water in an apartment building, videos on social media showed.

Other social media videos showed water gushing through roads and vehicles in disarray.

In Shaoguan, landslides trapped villagers who had to be rescued by helicopter while other rescuers traveled on foot to reach cut-off disaster sites, Reuters reported.

The Chinese military also stepped in to help clear roads.

The rains eased early on Monday, but some schools in the province were suspended.

Powerful thunderstorms are expected to return later in the week after a brief respite, marking an unusually early wet spell that is more typical in the months of May and June.

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Climate Change

Massive river flooding expected in China, threatening millions

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(Last Updated On: April 21, 2024)

Major rivers, waterways and reservoirs in China’s Guangdong province are threatening to unleash dangerous floods, forcing the government on Sunday to enact emergency response plans to protect more than 127 million people.

Calling the situation “grim”, local weather officials said sections of rivers and tributaries at the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins are hitting water levels in a rare spike that only has a one-in-50 chance of happening in any given year, state broadcaster CCTV news said on Sunday.

China’s water resource ministry issued an emergency advisory, CCTV reported.

Guangdong officials urged departments in all localities and municipalities to begin emergency planning to avert natural disasters and promptly disperse disaster relief funds and materials to ensure affected people have food, clothing, water and a place to live, Reuters reported.

The province, a major exporter and one of China’s main commercial and trading centers, has seen torrid downpours for several days and strong winds due to severe convective weather, which has also affected other parts of China.

A 12-hour stretch of heavy rain, starting from 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) Saturday, battered the central and northern parts of the province in the cities of Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Qingyuan and Jiangmen.

Almost 20,000 people have been evacuated in Qingyuan, according to state media, and some power facilities in Zhaoqing were damaged, cutting power to some places, Reuters reported.

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