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J&K: Flash floods hit Surankote belt in Poonch
Surankote SHO Rajvir Singh said heavy rains lashed Surankote around 8pm on Sunday and within two hours, the entire town was inundated with flash floods
Flash floods triggered by heavy rains hit areas of Surankote town in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Monday, prompting authorities to shut educational institutions and sound an alert, officials said.
Surankote SHO Rajvir Singh said heavy rains lashed Surankote around 8pm on Sunday and within two hours, the entire town was inundated with flash floods.
He said that over a dozen houses and several shops were damaged in the rain incident.
“Vehicles in lanes and roads were also swept away. The losses are into lakhs of rupees. Luckily, there was no loss of life in the flash floods,” said the officer.
According to officials, heavy overnight rains in the hilly areas of the Surankote belt triggered flash floods, with huge volume of water entering houses and shops.
The army and police pitched in to help the aggrieved residents. Authorities also issued advisories to people to stay at home and not venture close to rivers and nullahs in the wake of the threat of flash floods.
Locals said that there were scenes of destruction everywhere with dozens of houses and shops suffering damage. “Our entire merchandise stock kept in shops has been damaged and we are at wit’s end,” said one of the traders.
“It was like a cloudburst as over a dozen vehicles, two wheelers and cars were swept away in the rain water,” he said.
Meanwhile, a heavy machinery operator, Zafar Ahmed, of Kalai was drowned in Suran river at Kalai in Poonch while his colleague Tahir Masood of Chandak was rescued after they were swept away in a flash flood on Sunday night.
“Though searches are still on, there is no clue of Zafar Ahmed. The rescue teams had rescued Tahir in an injured condition from the river. They had gone to the river around 8.30pm on Sunday to move their machine to a safer place in view of rains, but a flash flood suddenly hit them,” said a police officer.
Provincial president of Youth National Conference and former MLA, Ajaz Jan, has appealed to LG Manoj Sinha to constitute teams to assess the damages suffered by people in Poonch.
