Indians Publish Cries for Help and Calls for Donations on Twitter as Deadly Flooding Hits Jammu and Kashmir

A group of youth try to evacuate goods from a flooded house in Bemina Srinagar, Kashmir. Image by Faisal Khan. Copyright Demotix (5/9/2014)

A group of young people try to evacuate goods from a flooded house in Bemina Srinagar, Kashmir. Image by Faisal Khan. Copyright Demotix (5/9/2014)

Flash floods have submerged about 2,600 villages and killed 150 people so far in the northern-most Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in what is being described as the worst food the area has seen in 50 years.

Heavy torrential rain in the Himalayan mountains in the past weeks caused the worst floods in 50 years in Kashmir Valley and some districts of Jammu region. Approximately one-third of capital Srinagar city is under flood waters and over a million people are affected in Jammu division. According to news reports, more than 11,000 civilians have been rescued so far and 2,000 have been provided with food and temporary shelters.

As the situation worsened, more and more citizen journalists began spreading the news via Twitter and Facebook. Twitter hashtags like #KashmirFloods, #KashmirFloodRelief and #JKFloodRelief are being used. Raheel Khurshid, the head of news, politics & government at Twitter India, prepared a list of Twitter users who are updating the situation from the ground.

Ahsan, a journalism student and blogger from Kashmir, tweeted his observations:

Bismah Malik, a journalist form Srinagar, Kashmir, published a photo of the flood waters:

This Facebook video shows strong currents in the swollen Poonch river threatening a hanging bridge.

Blogger Zafar Iqbal tweeted:

Authint Mail, an online news site, reported that army, police, fire and emergency workers were called in to evacuate stranded families from Bemina Srinagar. On September 6, 2014, it reported in a live blog that overnight rains in Srinagar and nearby regions of Indian-administered Kashmir have swelled the water levels in river Jehlum and other streams. Thousands in the region abandoned their homes and were running short of essential commodities.

People are using Twitter to send distress messages:

A Kashmiri student of classical Islam tweeted more distress calls:

People used Twitter to ask for donations and spread the word about shelters:

Bamboo houses of Nomads submerged in flash floods on the outskirts of Jammu, India. Image by Amarjeet Singh. Copyright Demotix (5/9/2014)

Bamboo houses of nomads submerged in flash floods on the outskirts of Jammu, India. Image by Amarjeet Singh. Copyright Demotix (5/9/2014)

A blog titled #JKFloodrelief has been put up to aggregate information about flood relief. The information is compiled by some volunteer netizens with reliable on-ground connections.

This is a developing news. Please check back for more updates.

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