Thursday, September 26 – Mumbai faced severe flooding on Wednesday evening as the city was inundated with over 200 mm of rain within a mere six hours. The intense downpour led to significant disruptions, including widespread waterlogging, traffic paralysis, and interruptions to both railway and flight services
According to data from the Mumbai Mesonet Observations by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), the Municipal Corporation’s N ward in Ghatkopar East recorded a staggering 207 mm of rain between 6 PM and midnight. To put this in perspective, this amount represents about one-tenth of the total rainfall the city typically receives during the entire monsoon season from June to September.
While rainfall exceeding 100 mm in a short period is usually categorized as a cloudburst, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has not classified this event as such, noting that the high rainfall levels were recorded in specific areas over 4 to 6 hours.
Tragically, two people lost their lives due to lightning strikes while working in a stone quarry in Varap village, Kalyan, and a woman drowned near Zenith waterfall. Train services on the Main and Harbour lines of Central Railways faced significant disruptions, although Western Railways operated without major incidents. However, Harbour line services were suspended from 9:40 PM due to waterlogging, resulting in an emergency situation in the city that lasted several hours and included the diversion of 14 flights.
In response to the severe weather, the IMD upgraded its initial orange alert to a red alert for Mumbai, Thane, and Raigad, predicting extremely heavy rainfall, thunderstorms with lightning, and gusty winds in isolated areas until Thursday morning. As a precaution, schools and colleges in Mumbai and Thane have announced closures for Thursday.
Rainfall data for Wednesday indicated that many areas, including the Santacruz base station, were expected to surpass the 100 mm mark. Real-time data from IITM showed that neighborhoods such as Juhu, Mahim, Sion, Airoli, and Colaba experienced nearly 150 mm of rainfall in the previous 24 hours, primarily falling between 5 PM and 10 PM.
The IMD’s forecasts suggest that thunderstorms, lightning, and isolated instances of extremely heavy rainfall, along with gusty winds, are likely to continue across North Konkan on Thursday. Warnings for heavy to very heavy rainfall remain in effect for Mumbai, Thane, and Raigad.
So far this monsoon season, Mumbai has recorded a 9% excess in rainfall, totaling 2,221 mm compared to the normal 2,046 mm from June 1 to September 25. Authorities are on high alert, continuously monitoring the situation and ensuring that response teams are prepared for any further emergencies caused by the heavy rains.
