India is facing the prospect of further torrential rainfall across swaths of the country in coming days, increasing the risk of widespread damage after the wettest New Delhi day in four decades left millions wading through knee-deep water on Sunday.
Across the nation’s north 19 people have been killed in the deluge, according to Press Trust of India. On social media, users shared dramatic footage of landslides, flash floods tearing through villages and rivers raging in Himachal Pradesh, one of the worst-hit states that witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 50 years. In the country’s capital, shared images showed city streets turned into fast-moving waterways.
Safdarjung Observatory, the main weather station in Delhi, recorded 153 millimeters of rain in the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 a.m. Sunday, the highest for a single day in July since 1982, raising water levels in the Yamuna River. The station reported 110 mm of precipitation in the next 24 hours, prompting the state to shut schools, while local officials sought to evacuate those living near the water. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Sunday that 15% of total rain for the monsoon season fell in 12 hours.