A view of flood-affected people with their domesticated animals stranded on an islet in a flooded area of the Sonitpur district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, July 1, 2012. — File Photo by Reuters

GAUHATI: A flash flood triggered by torrential rain has killed at least nine construction workers and left 15 others missing and feared dead in India’s remote northeast.  

Karma Zyatso, chief secretary of Sikkim state, says the workers, who lived in camps, were swept away by the swirling waters of a flooded river Friday in Chungthan, a small town in the mountainous region.

Zyatso said Sunday that authorities had recovered nine bodies and were searching for the 15 missing workers, who were building roads.

He also said helicopters dropped food supplies to nearly 10,000 people living in six villages cut off due to damage to the main highway in the area, about 550 kilometers (310 miles) west of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state.

A view of the Neelum river in Muzzarabad. — Photo by INP

MUZAFFARABAD: At least 12 villagers, women and children among them, were swept away by flash floods in the village of Machiara triggered by heavy rain on Wednesday.

Only five bodies had been found till late in the evening. Officials said that most of the victims had been collecting firewood which water channels usually carried after heavy rains.

In the wake of heavy rains, a lot of firewood and split logs were floating in the channel and the villagers were trying to get hold of them when they were swept away by raging torrents, Superintendent of Police Javed Yousuf said.

He said seven people were injured and some of them were rescued by villagers.

A villager, who identified himself as Mushtaq Mughal, told Dawn that some of the children who drowned were going to school. The dead or the missing were identified as Mir Muhammad Yousuf, Mir Mudassar, Umair, Munawwar Jan, Mir Alam, Said Alam, Sufi Mirza, Muhammad Hanif, Muhammad Riyaz, Tahira, Sahib Noor and Arshad Shah.

Zia Ahmed Khawaja, Director of State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), told Dawn that five bodies had been taken out of the nullah and his organisation had set up camps at various points along the Neelum and Jhelum rivers to look for the remaining bodies.

The channel known as Machiara Nullah merges after a few kilometers into the Bhedi Nullah and after winding through mountain slopes finally falls into the River Neelum near Patikka, some 19 kilometres from here.

AJK’s Minister for Forests Sardar Javaid Ayub told Dawn by phone from Machiara that heavy rains had played havoc with the farmland and crops.

While it is too early to predict what 2012 will be like, insurers and weather prediction agencies point to a clear trend: the world's weather is becoming more extreme and more costly. – AP Photo

From floods that crippled countries, to mega cyclones, huge blizzards, killer tornadoes to famine-inducing droughts, 2011 has been another record-breaker for bad weather.

While it is too early to predict what 2012 will be like, insurers and weather prediction agencies point to a clear trend: the world’s weather is becoming more extreme and more costly.

Following are details of major weather disasters for 2011 and some early forecasts for 2012.

2011 Overview

Global reinsurer Munich Re says natural catastrophe losses for the first nine months of 2011 totalled $310 billion, a record, with 80 percent of all economic losses occurring in the Asia-Pacific region. Since 1980, weather-related disasters globally have more than tripled.

The United States set a record with 12 separate billion-dollar weather disasters in 2011, with an aggregate damage total of approximately $52 billion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this month.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said global temperatures in 2011 are currently the 10th highest on record, higher than any previous year with a La Nina event, which has a relative cooling influence.

The 13 warmest years have all occurred in the 15 years since 1997. The extent of Arctic sea ice in 2011 was the second lowest on record, and its volume was the lowest.

Scientists say a warming atmosphere and more moisture in the air are providing fuel for weather systems, leading to more extremes. Rising levels of greenhouse gases from industry, transport and deforestation are providing that extra heat.

Major weather disasters of 2011

January — Record floods swamp Australia’s east coast, killing 35 people, shutting coal mines, wiping out roads, rail lines and thousands of homes and costing more than $2 billion in insured losses.

“Snowmageddon”: Heavy snows blanket large parts of the United States including record falls in New York.

February — Cyclone Yasi, one of the largest and most powerful storms ever to hit Australia, strikes northern Queensland state, devastating sugar and banana crops.

Massive winter storm hits US Midwest and Northeast, causing travel chaos and power outages.

April – Series of tornadoes batter U.S. Southeast, killing an estimated 364 people.

May – Tornado hits U.S. town of Joplin, killing about 160 people, the single deadliest U.S. twister since 1947.

Floods in US Midwest and Mississippi River Valley inundate millions of acres, trimming corn and soy plantings.

June – Floods in China’s central and southern provinces kill more than 100 people. More than half a million are evacuated.

July – Worst drought in decades in the Horn of Africa triggers famine in Somalia and leaves 13 million people at risk starvation in a crisis expected to last well into 2012.

Flooding between July and late November in Thailand kills more than 600, affects a third of the country, causes damage of at least $42 billion and inundates nearly 1,000 factories near Bangkok, disrupting auto and electronics global supply chains.

August – Hurricane Irene kills at least 40 people in the eastern United States and triggers the worst flooding in decades in some states. Economic losses estimated to top $10 billion.

September – Scores die in worst flooding along the Mekong river since 2000.

October – Rare October snowstorm kills 13 in US northeast and leaves 1.6 million without power.

December – Tropical storm Washi hits the Philippine island of Mindanao, triggering flash floods and mudslides and killing more than 1,200 people.

Year-long drought in U.S. state of Texas causes more than $5 billion in agricultural losses and triggers wildfires that burn 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares). Summer temperatures in Texas break US records.

Predictions for 2012

A La Nina event in the Pacific Ocean is expected to last well into 2012. The phenomenon is a cooling of waters in the central Pacific and has a global impact on weather.

Forecasters expect it to bring above-average rains to northern and eastern Australia and more cyclones than normal during the Australian November-April storm season. La Nina events also tend to strengthen the Atlantic hurricane season.

Colorado State University researchers expect an above-average hurricane season if conditions that bring warmer than usual tropical water temperatures in the Atlantic continue and there no major El Nino event.

El Nino is a warming of surface waters in the eastern and central Pacific, affecting wind patterns that can trigger droughts in Australia and suppress Atlantic hurricanes.

Winter across Europe and the United States is also expected to be milder, forecasters say.

“The common thread this winter compared to last is the presence of La Nina,” said Chris Vaccaro, public affairs director, at the National Weather Service in Washington. “But the La Nina we have now and through the winter is not anticipated.”