Red Alert for Uttarakhand

• 02 Aug 2024

Why in News?

Recently, The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for certain areas in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand due to an increased risk of extremely heavy rainfall and potential flooding.

Key Points

• Heavy rainfall raises concerns for waterlogging, landslides, and disruptions to daily life and transportation.
• Authorities are urging residents in these areas to stay informed with the latest weather updates and take necessary precautions to safeguard their health and property as the monsoon intensifies.

Colour- Coded Weather Warning

• It is issued by the IMD whose objective is to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather which has the potential to cause damage, widespread disruption or danger to life.
• Warnings are updated daily.
• The IMD uses 4 colour codes are:
  • Green (All is well): No advisory is issued.
  • Yellow (Be Aware): Yellow indicates severely bad weather spanning across several days. It also suggests that the weather could change for the worse, causing disruption in day-to-day activities.
  • Orange/Amber (Be prepared): The orange alert is issued as a warning of extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road and rail closures, and interruption of power supply.
  • Red (Take Action): When the extremely bad weather conditions are certainly going to disrupt travel and power and have significant risk to life, the red alert is issued.
• These alerts are universal in nature and are also issued during floods, depending on the amount of water rising above land/in a river as a result of torrential rainfall.
• For instance, when the water in a river is ‘above normal’ level, or between the ‘warning’ and ‘danger’ levels, a yellow alert is issued.