Himalayan Flash Floods: Climate Change Worsens Them, but Poor Planning Makes Them Deadly

Roads and High-Rises Have Made Himalayan Towns Prone to Disaster

Recently, Dharali in the western Himalayas was swept away by floods. Darjeeling in the eastern Himalayas could suffer the same fate.

Himalayan flash floods: climate change worsens them, but poor planning makes them deadly

On August 5, a cloudburst near the Kheer Ganga river triggered a flash flood that tore through Dharali, a village in the Indian Himalayas. Within minutes, the river swelled with water, mud and debris, sweeping away homes, roads and lives. Every monsoon season, the Himalayas see similar tragedies – flash floods caused by cloudbursts or glacial lake outbursts. The first explanation we often hear is climate change. Extreme rainfall and melting glac…

Himalayan flash floods: Climate change worsens them, but poor planning makes them deadly

On August 5, a cloudburst near the Kheer Ganga river triggered a flash flood that tore through Dharali, a village in the Indian Himalayas. Within minutes, the river swelled with water, mud and debris, sweeping away homes, roads and lives.