Overview

• At least four people were killed and several others injured overnight when a cloudburst and subsequent landslides struck Jodh Ghati and Janglote villages in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The deluge washed out sections of National Highway-44, damaged a railway track and flooded a local police station, severing vital road and rail connections.
• National and state forces including the army, NDRF, SDRF and police have joined local volunteers in challenging high-rain terrain to conduct searches, evacuations and medical relief.
• Authorities have issued weather advisories, activated helplines and urged residents to avoid rivers, streams and landslide-prone areas as water levels rise.
• This disaster compounds a monsoon crisis that began in June, following an Aug. 14 cloudburst in Kishtwar that killed about 60 pilgrims and flash floods in Buner, Pakistan, where at least 160 people are feared dead.