Cloudbursts have killed over 400 people in South Asia. What are they?

Earlier this month, another cloudburst hit India, this time in the northern state of Uttarakhand, where floodwaters poured into the Himalayan village of Dharali. Meanwhile, Pakistan has already received 50% more rainfall than in the same period last year, Lt. Gen. Inam Haider, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, told reporters in Islamabad last week.

“We can tell whether it’s going to be heavy rain or light rain, but at that smallest scale, I don’t think anybody can forecast a cloudburst,” Bala, the professor, said.

Pakistan, which is responsible for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is the country most affected by extreme weather events, according to the Climate Risk Index compiled by the Bonn-based nonprofit group Germanwatch.

In 2022, Pakistan declared a national state of emergency after a tenth of the country was inundated with floods that killed nearly 1,700 people, with the World Bank estimating reconstruction costs at $16 billion.

But some precautions are possible.

“You can have localized warning groups, forecasts, instead of doing it from a faraway distance,” said Khan, adding that a community-based approach of drills, sirens and messaging groups can help evacuate residents early.

“It has to be us saving ourselves,” he added. “We need flood-resistant infrastructure just like Japan has built earthquake resistance.”