Monsoon floods claim five lives in northeast India

Heavy monsoon rains in India’s northeast have caused landslides and flooding in Assam, resulting in the deaths of at least five people, according to disaster officials on Saturday.

India’s monsoon season, which runs from June to September, provides relief from the intense summer heat and is vital for replenishing water sources.

However, it also frequently leads to significant loss of life and property damage.

These fatalities mark the beginning of the season’s toll, with many more deaths typically occurring as the rains continue across India’s population of 1.4 billion.

The monsoon, a massive sea breeze system, delivers 70 to 80 percent of South Asia’s yearly rainfall.

Rivers swollen by persistent heavy rains, including the Brahmaputra and its tributaries, have overflowed, flooding large parts of the region.

Experts note that the severity of these rains and subsequent floods has worsened in recent years, attributing the trend to climate change.

Officials from the Assam State Disaster Management Authority reported five deaths within the past 24 hours.

A red alert remains in effect for 12 districts of Assam, following continuous rainfall over the last three days that has caused flooding in numerous urban centers.

The flooding was especially severe in Guwahati, the capital of Assam. To reduce the risk of electrocution, city officials have cut electricity supply in several affected neighborhoods.

Many low-lying parts of Guwahati experienced heavy flooding, forcing hundreds of families to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed that rescue teams have been deployed to assist those affected.

"We have been monitoring the situation closely for the past three days," he said in a statement, adding that rice supplies have been sent out as emergency food aid.

South Asia has been experiencing rising temperatures and changing weather patterns in recent years, but scientists are still uncertain about the precise impact of global warming on the region’s complex monsoon system.

On Monday, heavy rains drenched Mumbai, India’s financial hub, with the monsoon arriving about two weeks earlier than normal — the earliest onset in nearly 25 years, according to meteorologists.