Jammu, Oct 12: Jammu has recorded its heaviest October rainfall in 71 years, with 185.6 mm lashing the city in just three hours, triggering flash floods that left two people feared dead, inundated homes and shops, damaged vehicles and sparked landslides, officials said.
The unprecedented downpour, which began around 8.30 am on Sunday, surpassed the city’s previous October record of 160 mm set in 1955, they said.
According to officials, a 27-year-old woman went missing in Raipur Domana after she was allegedly swept away by flash floods while trying to help her husband move their parked car. The man saved himself by clinging to an object, but the woman remained untraced despite search operations by police, local residents and SDRF teams.
The body of another man, suspected to have drowned in a flooded stream, was recovered from the Domana area on Sunday evening. His identity and the exact cause of death were yet to be established, they said.
The record-breaking rain inundated roads, houses and commercial establishments, with Panjtirthi, Nagrota, Roop Nagar, Janipur, Dogra Chowk, Durga Nagar, Shakti Nagar and Raipur Domana among the worst-affected areas.
Water entered homes and shops in Durga Nagar, Shakti Nagar and Raipur Domana, while residents reported damage to cars and two-wheelers. Waterlogging disrupted traffic in several localities, officials said.
Landslides were reported on the Panjtirthi–Sidhra and Sidhra–Nagrota stretches, disrupting vehicular movement. Authorities deployed men and machinery to clear the debris, restoring traffic after several hours. Commuters were advised to exercise caution on vulnerable stretches.
The rain also pulled temperatures down, with the maximum settling at 23.3 degrees Celsius, nine degrees below normal, officials said.
Jammu West MLA Arvind Gupta said Bohri and Anand Nagar were flooded, with water entering homes and roads getting waterlogged.
He said the downpour was unexpected as the monsoon had nearly ended and that extensive damage occurred within two hours.
Gupta said the flooding took place on the first day of Navratri, when many families were preparing for puja at home. No casualties were reported from Bohri and Anand Nagar, he said. (KNS)
