Assam on High Alert as New Heavy Rain Forecast Follows Deadly Floods

Guwahati: The India Meteorological Department issued an orange alert for Tinsukia as fresh, heavy rainfall threatens Assam from July 30 to August 1. Thunderstorms and downpours will likely strike Assam, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. Flash floods loom. Authorities warn that waterlogging, traffic delays, and landslides remain high-risk concerns across the region.

The weather system targets Tinsukia, Dhemaji, and Lakhimpur. Runoff from Nagaland districts Mon, Mokokchung, and Wokha puts Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, and Golaghat at risk. Arunachal Pradesh districts, including East Siang, Lohit, Namsai, Longding, Papumpare, Lower Subansiri, and Lower Dibang Valley, expect 6 to 11 cm of rain daily. Papumpare could see up to 20 cm.

The state reels from an earlier catastrophe. Floods have claimed 78 lives, displacing three lakh people. Nearly 13,000 households across Gaurisagar, Sivasagar, Nazira, Amguri, and Demow remain without power. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed that recovery crews are restoring transformers where conditions are safe.

A six-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team recently finished assessing the wreckage. State officials told the delegation that the flooding, fueled by extreme rainfall on July 19, was an unprecedented event. Charaideo and Sivasagar, usually safe, were swamped. During the briefing at Janata Bhawan, Additional Chief Secretary L. Sweety Changsan described the situation as an "unprecedented disaster."

The government is offering financial breathing room to victims. Borrowers in Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, and Jorhat get a six-month moratorium on housing, education, vehicle, and agricultural loans starting July 19. Eligible borrowers may also extend their repayment tenures by up to one year. Emergency agencies remain on standby as residents are urged to avoid travel and monitor official weather updates.