Monsoon in Himachal: Flash flood in Una’s Haroli amid yellow alert

A car was swept away in a flash flood, while several trucks were stuck on the state highway in Haroli sub division of Una district on Wednesday as it rained heavily across Himachal Pradesh amid a yellow alert.

The driver of the car, Harish Kumar of Sainsowal village near Haroli, had a close shave as he jumped to safety in time and was rescued by local residents with the help of tractors.

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He was returning after dropping his father to work in Haroli when the water level in a rivulet suddenly rose. The car was swept away for about 100 metres. Several trucks are stranded as all tributaries of Swan river are in spate after the region received heavy rainfall.

Roads have been inundated and flood waters entered houses in some villages.

Monsoon picks up pace

After a brief lull, the monsoon again picked up pace in Himachal Pradesh.

A yellow weather alert has been issued for heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning till July 8, said Surender Paul, director of Indian Meteorological Department’s Shimla centre.

After the onset of the monsoon on June 24, the state got 119% excess rainfall in just three days. However, the monsoon weakened from June 27 onwards.

Over the past week, Himachal Pradesh received 38% deficit rainfall. According to the IMD data, the state experienced actual rainfall of 23.7mm against a normal of 38.3mm.

The highest 100% deficit was recorded in Lahaul-Spiti district, which got no rain. Kullu had a rain deficiency of 74%, Chamba 57%, Mandi 55%, Hamirpur 54%, Kinnaur 45%, Una 27%, Solan 21%, Kangra 14%, Shimla, 9%, Bilaspur 6% and Sirmaur 3%.

Light to moderate rainfall

Paul said that the state has experienced light to moderate rainfall since Tuesday.

Palampur got 32mm of rainfall, Nahan 21mm, Una 12.4mm, Seohbag 5.6mm, Dehra 5mm and Dharamshala 3.3mm.