In this article IMD Issues Heavy Rain & Flood Advisories Across Several States – Here’s What to Expect This Week what we should do and what will be the rains like
Honestly? If you were thinking of going anywhere this weekend, maybe reconsider. The weather department just dropped some pretty heavy warnings and it’s not looking good out there.
So the IMD came out yesterday with these flood advisories for like half the country. UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand – basically if you’re anywhere in the northern belt, you’re probably already seeing what I’m talking about. My cousin in Lucknow sent me videos of his street yesterday and man, it looked like a river.
The thing is, we always get monsoon warnings, right? But this feels different. Eight states have rivers crossing danger levels. That’s not your typical “oh it might rain heavy today” situation.
What’s actually going down
Bihar’s getting hammered. The Ganga at Patna is running more than a meter above where it should be. I was talking to this guy Ramesh who runs a tea stall near Gandhi Ghat – he’s been there 20 years and says he’s never seen it this bad this early. “Usually we get some warning, some buildup,” he told me. “This just hit us.”
UP isn’t much better. They’ve got red alerts running through next week. My friend works for the district administration in Hardoi and she’s been pulling 12-hour shifts setting up relief camps. “We’re not even in peak monsoon yet,” she said when I called her this morning. You could hear the exhaustion.
Uttarakhand’s where it gets scary though. Rivers like Alaknanda and Mandakini are already above danger marks. The Kedarnath route got shut down completely – they had to evacuate 2500 people. Imagine being stuck up there when weather turns.
Real talk from people dealing with it
I called around to get actual voices, not just official statements.
Priya from Gopalganj told me her family moved their buffaloes to higher ground three days ago. “The Gandak’s rising every hour. We’re just watching and praying it stops.” Her voice had this edge to it – you know when someone’s trying to stay calm but you can tell they’re worried?
This shopkeeper in Lucknow, Raj bhai, he was philosophical about it. “Arrey, what to do? Shop flooded twice already this week. Insurance wallah will make some excuse anyway.” He laughed but it wasn’t a happy laugh.
Even in Delhi people are getting antsy. My office WhatsApp group is full of people sharing traffic updates and which routes to avoid. The weather app says light rain through the 7th but honestly, these apps are usually wrong anyway.
The mess nobody talks about
Here’s what really happens when these warnings come out – chaos. Schools shut down without much notice so parents scramble. My neighbor had to take leave because her kid’s school in Ghaziabad closed suddenly yesterday.
Roads become parking lots. That Delhi-Meerut expressway? Forget it during heavy rain. People post these videos of cars floating and everyone shares them but nobody talks about the guy who’s stuck in traffic for 4 hours trying to get home.
Power cuts are almost guaranteed. The electricity board switches off supply in flooded areas “for safety” but then you’re sitting in the dark with no fan, no phone charging, nothing.
And don’t get me started on the vegetables. Tomato prices shot up 40% just in the last week in our local market. The sabzi wallah shrugged and said “transport problem, madam.”
What you actually need to know
Look, forget the fancy preparedness lists. Here’s what actually matters:
Stock up on basic stuff now, not when it’s too late. I learned this the hard way during the 2013 floods – by the time you realize you need supplies, shops are either closed or charging crazy rates.
Download offline maps. Seriously. When network goes patchy and you need to find alternate routes, Google Maps becomes useless.
Keep cash handy. Digital payments fail when networks are down and you might need to pay someone for help.
If you’re in flood-prone areas, charge everything you can. Power banks, phone, laptop, whatever. Electricity goes first in these situations.
Don’t trust the first weather update you see. Check multiple sources. I use three different apps plus the local WhatsApp groups where people share real-time ground situation.
The authorities are trying, sort of
Credit where it’s due – disaster response teams are active. NDRF is positioned in high-risk areas. But there’s only so much they can do when half the country gets hit simultaneously.
The Uttarakhand government suspended pilgrimage routes which was smart. Better disappointed pilgrims than rescue operations. Though try explaining that to someone who saved for months for that trip.
In Bihar, they opened relief camps but my contact there says they’re already overcrowded. “We planned for normal flooding,” she said. “This isn’t normal.”
Why this feels worse than usual
Maybe I’m getting old but monsoons didn’t used to be this unpredictable. This weather analyst I follow on Twitter – she’s been doing this for 25 years – posted yesterday that we’ve had above-normal rainfall for two months straight. First time in 12 years apparently.
Climate’s definitely shifting. These “rare” weather events happen every year now. We keep calling them exceptions but maybe this is just how it is now.
My father-in-law who farms in western UP says the rains come differently now. “Earlier we could predict. Clouds would build up, we’d prepare. Now it just dumps everything at once.”
What’s coming next
Next three days look rough for the northern states. UP and Uttarakhand might see extremely heavy falls. That’s the technical term for “really, really bad.”
Northeast India’s going to stay wet basically all week. Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal – if you’re there, you know the drill by now.
The weather guys are saying this pattern might continue through next week too. So it’s not just a “wait it out for two days” situation.
Here’s my honest advice – take this seriously but don’t panic. We’ve handled worse. India always does. But respect the water. Don’t drive through flooded roads because you think your car can handle it. Don’t send kids to play in the rain when there’s lightning warnings.
And maybe keep checking your weather apps, even though half the time they’re wrong anyway. At least you’ll know what wrong prediction you’re dealing with.
Stay safe out there. And if you’re somewhere dry reading this, maybe spare a thought for folks who aren’t so lucky right now.
