From 16 June 2013 a well-marked cyclonic circulation developed around a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, moving westwards, rapidly intensified due to moisture supplied from both the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, combining with intense western disturbances from the north, thus causing the Indian state of
Uttarakhand and adjoining areas to receive heavy rainfall, leading to 375% of the benchmark rainfall during a normal monsoon. This caused the melting of Chorabari Glacier at the height of 3800 meters and cresting of the
Mandakini River, which led to heavy floods near Gobindghat,
Kedar Dome,
Rudraprayag district,
Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Nepal, and acute rainfall in other nearby regions of Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Tibet. The upper Himalayan territories of
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are full of forests and snow-covered mountains and thus remain relatively inaccessible. They are home to several major and historic Hindu and Sikh pilgrimage sites besides several tourist spots and trekking trails. Heavy rainfall for four consecutive days as well as melting snow aggravated the floods. at Rudraprayag Sangam
Landslides, due to the floods, damaged several houses and structures, killing those who were trapped. The heavy rains resulted in large flash floods and massive landslides. Pilgrimage centres in the region, including
Gangotri,
Yamunotri,
Kedarnath and
Badrinath, the hallowed Hindu
Chardham (four sites) pilgrimage centers, are usually visited by thousands of devotees, especially after the month of July on wards. Over 70,000 people were stuck in various regions because of damaged or blocked roads. For more than three days, stranded pilgrims and tourists were without rations or survived on little food. The roads were seriously damaged at more than 450 places, resulting in huge traffic jams, and the floods caused many cars and other vehicles to be washed away. Rescuers at the Hindu pilgrimage town of
Haridwar on the river
Ganga recovered bodies of 40 victims washed down by the flooded rivers as of 21 June 2013. Bodies of people washed away in Uttarakhand were found in distant places like
Bijnor,
Prayagraj (then Allahabad) and
Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Searching for bodies who died during the extreme natural fury of June in Kedar valley continued for several months and even as late as September 2013, about 556 bodies were found out of which 166 bodies were found in highly decomposed state during fourth round of search operations. , before the floods Although the
Kedarnath Temple and the main Shiva Lingam inside was not damaged, its base was inundated with water, mud and boulders from the landslide, damaging its perimeter. Many hotels, rest houses and shops around the temple in Kedarnath township were destroyed, resulting in several casualties. Most of the destruction at Kedarnath was caused by a sudden rapid melting of ice and snow on the
Kedarnath Mountain, from the temple, which flooded the
Chorabari Lake (upstream) and then Kedarnath. The temple was flooded with water resulting in several deaths due to drowning and panic-driven stampede. Even after a week, dead bodies had not been removed from Kedarnath town, resulting in water contamination in the Kedarnath valley and villagers who depend on spring water suffered various types of health problems such as fever and diarrhea. When the flood receded, satellite images showed one new stream at Kedarnath town. No damage at the Kedarnath Temple occurred. The Uttarakhand Government announced that due to the extensive damage to the infrastructure, the temple will be temporarily closed to regular pilgrims and tourists for a year or two, but the temple rituals will still be maintained by priests. The Temple was opened for pilgrims on Sunday, 4 May 2014 by Rawal
Bhimashankarlingam.
Other regions affected by the disaster National Capital Region New Delhi,
Gurugram,
Faridabad and surrounding areas received a high amount of rainfall on 16 June 2013, leading to flooding of the low-lying areas of the cities. The
Yamuna River swelled to a new height of 207.75 meters submerging the low lying flood plains along the banks.
Uttar Pradesh Six-hundred and nine villages, covering a population of 700,000, in 23 districts of Uttar Pradesh were affected by the flood and drought. , more than 120 deaths were reported from the state. The number of people who went to Uttarakhand were mostly from Uttar Pradesh.
Himachal Pradesh In Himachal Pradesh, floods caused loss of life and property and death toll in the state was 20.
Nepal of Nepal About 6000 citizens of Nepal were visiting the Indian region, of which 1,000 were rescued as of 22 June 2013. Flooding of the
Dhauliganga and the
Mahakali rivers had caused extensive damage, with reports of 128 houses and 13 government offices swept away and over 1000 people homeless. A bridge that joins the India-Nepal border was highly damaged. == Rescue operations ==