Saturday, July 5

At least 69 people are dead and hundreds of others are injured after the latest round of deadly monsoon conditions in India's Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous state in the northern part of the country.

The destruction is mainly due to cloudbursts, which are small pockets of extremely heavy rainfall that can quickly lead to flash flooding. In Himachal Pradesh, a state situated primarily in the Himalayan Mountains, these floods often lead to devastating landslides that destroy everything from roads to entire towns.

Officials confirmed that cloudbursts had been reported in at least 14 different locations, trapping people in buildings and washing away hundreds of homes and businesses and 14 different bridges. The worst of the flooding was reported in Mandi District, specifically the areas of Thunag, Bagsayed, Karsog, and Dharampur, where over 40 people remain missing.

Hundreds of animals have also been killed in the rainfall, and electrical and water supplies across the state have been heavily disrupted. Members of the army, local police, and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to help with the situation, but it could take days to restore crucial supplies to remote areas. A rainfall alert is still in place across Himachal Pradesh until July 7, and search-and-rescue operations are going in full force.

Unfortunately, these types of heavy rainfall events are common during Himachal's monsoon season, which runs from June to September. Hundreds of people are killed each year due to the consistent heavy rains and poorly built infrastructure of the region, much of which is not meant to withstand landslides or flooding of this scale. Sadly, these extreme weather events will only get more severe as climate change worsens.

Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): The Buddha commonly depicted in statues and pictures is a different person entirely. The real Buddha was actually incredibly skinny because of self-deprivation.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Discussion is impossible with someone who claims not to seek the truth, but already to possess it. (Romain Rolland)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Yankee (noun, YANG-kee) - Yankee can refer broadly to anyone born or living in the U.S., more narrowly to only those in the northern U.S., or even more narrowly to only those in the states of New England. The broadest use is especially common outside the U.S.

In a Sentence: It took the children some time to adjust to being the only Southerners in a classroom full of Yankees.