Extreme monsoon rains in western India and Myanmar, more than 250 people killed

Extreme monsoon rains hit western India and Myanmar in early August 2019, causing dramatic flooding and landslides and leaving at least 258 people dead. 

The animation below depicts satellite-based measurements of rainfall from August 1 – 12, 2019. The darkest reds reflect the highest rainfall amounts, with many places receiving 600 mm (24 inches) or more during this period.

The image below shows the totals after twelve days of rain, from August 1 – 12. The measurements are a product of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, a partnership between NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and five other national and international partners.

From August 1 to 12, at least 193 people have been killed in floods and landslides across western India. In addition, the authorities have evacuated around 1 million people into emergency camps.

Pramod Kumar, the Kerala police spokesman, said at least 76 people died, 58 are missing and 32 have been injured in the state of Kerala alone. Around 288 000 people across the state have been evacuated. 265 houses have been fully damaged, as of 19:00 LT, August 11.

At least 42 people have lost their lives in Karnataka and over 580 000 were forced to evacuate after unprecedented floods hit the state. 300 homes, 5 bridges and numerous roads and highways were damaged or destroyed.

Neighboring Maharashtra (35) and Gujarat (31) reported 66 deaths, and tens of thousands evacuated.

Landslides claimed 6 lives in Uttarakhand and 3 in Jammu and Kashmir.

At least 65 people were killed in Myanmar after a large landslide hit its Mon state on August 9, destroying dozens of homes. At least 80 000 people are displaced and sheltering in 170 evacuation sites.

NASA Earth Observatory image and video by Joshua Stevens, using IMERG data from the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) at NASA/GSFC.