By AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Jul. 24, 2021 7:42 PM EDT
Heavy monsoon downpours led to over 100 deaths in western India this week, and the weather pattern over the next few weeks could continue to keep the region at-risk of dangerous flooding and landslides.
Rescue teams traveled through floodwater and debris on Saturday as the search for more survivors continued. According to Reuters, the death toll in the region as a result of the monsoon conditions grew to at least 125 on Saturday.
Fifty-four deaths were a result of just four landslides that occurred in the Raigad and Ratnagiri districts on Thursday and Friday, local time, The Associated Press reported.
A man wearing an oxygen mask is helped on a wheelchair through floodwaters in Kolhapur, in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Friday, July 23, 2021. Landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains hit parts of western India, killing more than 30 people and leading to the overnight rescue of more than 1,000 other people trapped by floodwaters, officials said Friday. (AP Photo)
According to the government in the western state of Maharashtra, 90,000 people were rescued from the areas affected by flooding. Some residents that survived were able to be rescued by standing on rooftops and buses that were stopped on highways.
"About 40 people are still trapped. The possibility of rescuing them alive is thin as they've been trapped in mud for more than 36 hours," an anonymous official told Reuters.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the situation in Maharashtra on Twitter, and said it is being heavily monitored and that assistance is being provided to affected individuals.
Over the past week, 72 inches of rain were reported from Mahabaleshwar, located on top of the Western Ghats mountain range in western Maharashtra. According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews, this rain likely played a role in the deadly flooding and landslides that ended the week in western India.
"This torrential rain here and elsewhere along the mountains would have sent sheets of runoff cascading downhill to the coast," he said. "This likely accounts for flood reports out of western Maharashtra."
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While the results of the flooding are catastrophic, AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards said western India typically sees heavy flooding around this time of year, and could even continue to see more in the following weeks.
"This is typical for this time of the year in western India due the ongoing monsoon which produce heavy rains that could produce flash flooding and landslides," Richards said. "This will continue at times over the next several weeks since we are in monsoon season."
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