The New York Times, Associated Press, France 24 and IndiaToday have reported a freak flash flood in northern India. It happened near the Himalayas after a portion of a glacier broke away and released pent up water.

The Times said, “Unconfirmed videos on social media showed violent surges of water heading down mountain gorges, washing away bridges and what looked like hydroelectric structures.”

Associated Press reported that the flood killed at least 9 people. They reported 140 missing. “The flood was caused when a portion of Nanda Devi glacier broke off in the Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand on Sunday morning. A video shared by officials and taken from the side of steep hillside shows a wall of water surging into one of the dams and breaking it into pieces with little resistance before continuing to roar downstream,” said the AP story.

To see a video shared on YouTube by France 24, a French public broadcast service, click here or on the image below.

A longer video on IndiaToday shows roiling water splashing hundreds of feet up on canyon walls.

Rescue teams from India and Tibet have rushed to the scene. Towns and villages downstream are being evacuated.

While we don’t have any glaciers in Texas, we do experience flash flooding. This dramatizes how flooding anywhere can change lives in an instant.

To learn more about different types of flooding, view this presentation by the National Weather Service.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/7/2020

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