"We Barely Escaped With Our Lives": Arunachal Flood Survivors Share Harrowing Stories

"We barely escaped with our lives": Families recount tale of destruction left behind by Arunachal flash floods

Keyi Panyor, June 28

A 46-year-old Rumi Rabha, who is an employee of NEEPCO, along with her husband, is taking shelter at a temporary relief camp after the flash flood washed away her official quarter at NEEPCO Colony near Possa village.

Speaking to ANI, Rabha said, "It was raining very heavily, non-stop. Then the boundary wall collapsed, and the water rushed right inside. We managed to get out somehow, but the house was completely swept away. Nothing is left. We are just scraping by on whatever food people give us; that's how we're living. We don't know what will happen later. We had so many belongings, gold and everything. All our possessions were right here in the house. We barely managed to escape, but we couldn't save a thing."

Another resident, Jhankeswari Sharma, said she and her husband escaped with their lives but lost everything they had spent years building as raging floodwaters swept away their belongings within minutes.

"I woke up before 4:00 AM. My room was flooded. Nothing is left inside. Only the two of us survived. I managed to save my husband as well. I had stepped out onto the veranda, and I called out to him just in time to get him to safety. In all my years living here, I have never seen anything like this... This time we were left with absolutely nothing...The water rose so high that it swept everything out of its path... We couldn't save a single thing... We built our lives here, never realising that if the river swelled, we wouldn't even see the danger coming until it was too late," Sharma told ANI.

An employee of NEEPCO, Hillang Yapin, said nearly 80 per cent of residents in the Pioneer Lower Hydropower Station (PLHS) colony were affected by the flash floods, leaving the area completely cut off as damaged roads isolated hundreds before rescue and relief teams reached them.

"The vast majority--about 80%--of the residents are victims, while only around 20% are in the safer zones like the D, C, and B quarters. Since most people are affected, the numbers are heavily skewed that way. The relief camp set up here is primarily for emergency cases. The response teams have been working incredibly hard, day and night. On the first day, we were completely cut off; our colony--PLHS (Pioneer Lower Hydropower Station)--is situated between Zero Point and the Lakhanpur/Capital side, so we were effectively trapped in the middle. The roads leading to both Lakhanpur and Zero Point were severed, leaving us isolated without any access to supplies. However, the central team from NEEPCO, along with the local government and authorities, provided immense help," Yapin said.

Rituparna Acharya, who is also taking shelter at a temporary relief camp, said, "We were asleep, and around 7:00 AM, a neighbour, an auntie, called out to us. Just as she called, the water rushed in. We couldn't even manage to retrieve our documents initially; we were facing a massive crisis. Eventually, the water level receded slightly, and we managed to grab our documents right then."

"After that, we moved here to the school. The quarters we were living in were severely damaged, and our household belongings were damaged too--yes, there was a lot of destruction. We only managed to seek refuge at the school; we couldn't get much else out. The situation was that bad because the water level was incredibly high. It was just my mother and me; my father was away. We've been here for over 25 years, but we've never faced a situation like this before," she said.

Another resident, Kaushalaya Sonar, said, "I was alone at home. My mother had gone to Delhi, and my father to Assam. I was all by myself. I usually wake up early, but since it was raining, I was still asleep. I finally woke up at 6:30 AM. The water was very muddy and filling up rapidly with rainwater. That neighbour--the auntie--called out to me."

"By God's grace, she shouted, 'Run, run!' so we fled. While she was gathering her documents, I did the same; I grabbed our suitcase and ran out. Shortly after we escaped, the water surged in completely. Houses right in front of ours were destroyed, and our home was severely damaged too. We managed to salvage a few belongings from the upper shelves, but there is significant damage inside," she added.

A 300-meter-long iron bridge connecting Kemi and Oyan was washed away by raging floodwaters in the Kemi River, completely severing connectivity between the Kemi-Purana Jelom area and Jonai Sadar.

Meanwhile, the body of a third victim was recovered on Sunday, around 10 kilometres downstream from the site of the June 24 cloudburst in Arunachal Pradesh's Keyi Panyor district, as restoration work continues amid persistent rainfall and several districts remain cut off due to landslides.

The aftermath of the disaster has severely disrupted connectivity, with seven districts in the state, including areas near the Indo-China border, remaining inaccessible from multiple routes.

— ANI