Flash flood in Himachal's Una, 10 houses damaged

SHIMLA: A flash flood occurred in a village in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district on Wednesday morning, damaging about 10 houses in a village in Haroli area, the state emergency operation centre said.

A purported video from the district surfaced on the internet in which a car can be seen being swept away in the water. However, no casualty was reported as the driver jumped out of the vehicle on time.

Light to moderate rains continued to lash several parts of the state and Nahan received 92 mm of rain followed by Una 65 mm, Kangra 42 mm, Palampur 32 mm, Mandi 28 mm, Kufri 27.5 mm, Dharamshala 22 mm, Narkanda 16.5 mm and Manali 14 mm.

The local Met office has issued a “yellow” alert for heavy rain, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in plains, low and mid hills till July 9 and predicted a wet spell in the state till July 11.

There is a possibility of flash floods along watersheds and other channels in Shimla, Mandi, Sirmaur and Solan districts, it added.

About eight to 10 houses were partially damaged in the flash floods in Khad village in Una, according to the state emergency operation centre.

The MeT also cautioned about damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings and disruptions of water and electricity.

Himachal has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 306.58 crore till date since the onset of monsoon on June 24, as per the data of the state emergency response centre.

The maximum loss was caused to the Public Works Department (Rs 152.42 crore) followed by Jal Shakti Vibhag (Rs 123.16 crore) and the Horticulture Department Rs 26.22 crore, it said.

As many as 38 roads were closed out of which 22 are expected to be opened by night, officials said.

Maximum day temperatures dropped by a few notches following widespread rains and stayed seven to 13 degrees below normal.

Kangra recorded a high of 24.7 degrees, Keylong 15.7 degrees, Bhuntar 22.8 degrees and Manali 18.3 degrees, which was 13.3 degrees, 10.6 degrees, 9.7 degrees and 7.9 degrees below normal respectively.

Hamirpur, which was hottest in the state on Tuesday with a maximum temperature of 33.4 degrees, recorded a high of 25.5 degrees on Wednesday, 7.8 degrees below normal.