Weather update today: Thunderstorm alert in latest satellite picture, heavy rain likely in eastern India
Weather update: Very heavy rainfall is expected over several parts of northeastern India over the next three days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a Red alert in Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim and the Himalayan foothills in West Bengal.
Thunderstorm and lightning are very likely over parts of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, parts of Madhya Pradesh, northeast Rajasthan, north Chhattisgarh and parts of Odisha.
According to the latest satellite picture large swathes of northeastern India saw thunderstorms in the last few hours.
Heavy rainfall in the eastern parts of the country is due to a shift in the monsoon trough northwards, towards the foothills of Himalayas.
In Assam the flood situation deteriorated on Thursday. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said, the number of flood-affected people rose to 1,82,583. Floods and landslide-related deaths also climbed to 64 in the state. Dhemaji is the worst-hit district with around 58,000 people affected by the floods. Other badly-hit districts are Barpeta and Lakhimpur, news agency PTI quoted the Assam disaster management body as saying.
The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark in Jorhat and Dhubri. Embankments, roads, bridges, culverts have been damaged at various places in Lakhimpur, Chirang, Nagaon, Barpeta and Dhemaji. According to a forest division bulletin, 48 animals in Kaziranga National Park, have died.
In neighbouring Nepal, two people died in heavy rain and floods in Sindhupalchok area and many houses have been swept away, says a report in news agency Press Trust of India. Reports say, water levels of local streams surged following intense rainfall the area.
Monsoon rainfall has been 12 per cent surplus in India so far, the weather office has said.