International Railroad Discussion > You want rain? You got it! 37 inches in Bombay today!

The great deluge of India: A railroad bed serves as a pedestrian path after the heaviest rains ever recorded in India -- 37.1 inches in a single day -- paralyzed Bombay. At least 200 people were killed. About 150,000 were stranded in city rail stations.

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Indians Recover 200 Bodies From Monsoon
- By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 27, 2005

(07-27) 11:39 PDT BOMBAY, India (AP) --

Authorities said Wednesday they had recovered at least 200 bodies in western India after the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the country shut down the financial hub of Bombay, snapped communication lines and marooned thousands of people in the past two days.

The bodies were found in Maharashtra state, where Bombay is located.

"Approximately 200 dead bodies have already been recovered in the state," R.R. Patil, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra state told The Associated Press. The figure includes 83 deaths in Bombay.

Another 100 people are feared dead across the state, which has been pounded by incessant rainfall since Tuesday.

Hundreds more have been killed by monsoon rains in the past two months, officials said.

Some of Wednesday's victims were electrocuted or trapped in cars while others drowned in swirling floodwaters or were buried by falling walls.

Patil said rescue teams have begun distributing food packets and drinking water to those affected.

The torrential rains shut down Bombay, the capital of Maharashtra state, closing airports and train stations.

Troops were deployed after sudden rains — measuring up to 37.1 inches in one day — stranded tens of thousands in suburban Bombay.

India's previous heaviest rainfall, recorded at Cherrapunji in the northeastern Meghalaya state — one of the rainiest places on Earth — was 33 inches on July 12, 1910.

"Most places in India don't receive this kind of rainfall in a year. This is the highest ever recorded in India's history," R.V. Sharma, director of the meteorological department in Bombay, told The Associated Press.

The heavy seasonal rains that had washed away tens of thousands of homes, along with roads, railway tracks and bridges.

Early Wednesday, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the state's top elected official, ordered a two-day holiday and called the army, navy and home guards to help with relief.

"Inflatable rafts will be used to reach stranded people. Please try to stay where you are and don't leave your homes," he said.

The state-run All India Radio reported about 150,000 people were stranded in rail stations across Bombay.

Hundreds of children spent the night in suburban schools.

Many travelers abandoned cars on roads after they stalled in water. Others stayed for more than nine hours on buses surrounded by swirling water on Bombay's main highways.

"We were stuck in a bus all through the night with nothing to eat or drink. It was impossible to get out because there was water all around," said Yamini Patil, a government employee.

The domestic and international airports in Bombay, among the busiest in the country, were shut down Tuesday, and all incoming flights were diverted to New Delhi and other airports.

"Never before in Bombay's history has this happened," said Bombay's Police Commissioner A.N. Roy. "Our first priority is to rescue people stranded in floods."

State police reported new landslides in Maharashtra's Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Kolhapur areas.

More than 76,000 farm animals have been killed and more than 1.72 million acres of crops had been destroyed, officials said.

India's monsoon rains, which usually last from June through September, claim hundreds of lives every year.


URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/07/27/international/i090616D49.DTL

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I was browsing the news lines today and saw they had 3 inches of rain in one day in India and though, "Hey, big whoop, why is that news?". I then looked more carefullly and saw they got 3 FEET of rain in a day.

And people say it rains in Seattle...