In the wake of the deluge, authorities have put out alerts in every district. The southwest monsoon has made a strong return, leaving several areas in Gujarat under water and battering sections of UP where it has been necessary to call in emergency services.
Monsoon turns fierce in UP
It was raining hard before dawn in much of Uttar Pradesh. Five cities, from Lucknow to Jalaun, were hit by a wall of rain at 3 am on Friday. By the time 6 am rolled around, Unnao had streets under water and rain seeping into some houses; in Jalaun, the downpour had not let up since 7 am.
Things were no better in Kanpur. A drain tied to a sewage plant gave way on Thursday morning, inundating the area and 12 villages in the vicinity. Over 30 cities, Agra and Mathura among them, have seen overcast skies with only an occasional break for the sun.
Statewide warnings and casualties
A rain alert is in effect for all 75 districts as of today. Some 11 of them can expect to see the heaviest of it, with the potential for hail and lightning in the mix. The forecast also has winds in the 40 kmph range, with some spots seeing gusts of 50.
“The monsoon has picked up in the state,” says Atul Kumar Singh, a meteorologist in Lucknow, noting a temperature dip of as much as 8 C that should hold for the week. He expects the season to be below average for the state as a whole, including the capital.
The numbers back that up. In the past day the state has seen 8.4 mm of rain on average, 54% above the 5.5 mm norm. But if you look at the period from 1 June to 2 July 2026, it is 45% short of normal: 58.3 mm to 106.8 mm.
There is a lot of variance in the figures. You have Sambhal with 46.3 mm and Mirzapur with 43.9 mm. Then there are the likes of Azamgarh (41.3), Badaun (29.8) and Moradabad (24.8). Varanasi put in 20.9, Hardoi 19.6, and Lakhimpur Kheri 18.4, with Bijnor and Etah at 18.7 each.
There has been loss of life to report. A mother and her infant were taken by a fast-moving drain in Sonbhadra. Lightning has claimed two lives in Ballia and Fatehpur. While 30 or so cities like Lucknow and Kanpur have had their share of rain, and Varanasi has been lashed by wind, the first of the season’s showers even left potholes in Shamli on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway.
Flooded Gujarat tests civic systems
Gujarat has been in the crosshairs of the monsoon. The kind of heavy rain we have seen has caused flooding in South, Saurashtra, North and central parts of the state.
According to officials, 172 talukas have seen some rain in the past day. The heaviest of it was in Mangrol, in the Junagadh district, where 13 inches were put down. In the six hours from 6 am to noon, 68 more talukas made their mark, with Waghai in Dang at the top of the list for 5.5 inches.
The situation in Kadi, Mehsana, was particularly rough. Some 8 to 9 inches came down in a two-hour window around 2 am, making it one of the hardest hit spots. Water up to waist level has seeped into homes in over 25 societies and put roads out of commission, with people having to move what they can.
Down in South Gujarat, Chikhli in Navsari had to contend with nearly 8 inches between 8 and 10 am, which triggered flash floods. Over 30 homes in Venkateshwar Nagar Society in Devsar and in Gandhinagar Phalia in Vansda are under water.
Rescue, roadblocks and official response
Some of the main arteries are now blocked by downed trees on the Gandevi-Navsari state highway and the Vansda-Dang road. In the morning alone, Gandevi saw 5 inches, with the taluka as a whole at 3.11 and Gandevi 2.17.
In Valsad, 6.10 inches of rain has left low-lying parts of the town underwater. NDRF is in the field for any rescues that are needed. The Chhipwad grain market is flooded, as is the railway underpass on the Khergam road that is the only way in or out for 44 villages, so there is no movement there. Dhaval Patel, the MP for Valsad, has confirmed that close to 500 from the coastal and low-lying bits of Chhipwad have been put up in safer quarters.
Surat is dealing with its share of damage to the Bhatpor GIDC road and new potholes. Rainfall has averaged 228 mm in the last 48 hours or so. Olpad and Palsana have had 15.31 and 14.25 inches respectively, and the District Emergency Operation Centre is on high alert.
“We have no reservoir or dam in the district at the danger point and I would not call it a flood-like scenario,” says District Collector Tejas Parmar. “But we are watching things closely.” The DEOC is in touch with all the relevant departments-fire, roads, electricity-to get services back in order. For any help, the number to put in is 1077.
There has been some trouble in Jhala village in Sutrapada taluka, Gir Somnath, where the ground has given way to water. And in Jamjodhpur, locals were able to pull two children from a rainwater stream in Kharavad. Health Minister Praful Pansheriya has been over to Valsad to go over the numbers with the Collector and make sure measures are in place against any water-borne or mosquito-borne illness.
What to watch next
The monsoon is still in full swing, so there is a matter of juggling the current flood work with the prospect of more to come. It is a case of getting the drainage in order, issuing the right kind of warnings and putting relief in the places that are most inundated.
Those in the line of fire should be heeding local advice and stay off the roads until the water goes down.
