Uttarakhand, the mountainous northern state that hosts Dharali, has been devastated by cloudbursts before. A June 2013 cloudburst killed over 6,000 people in Uttarakhand and surrounding states, becoming the country's worst natural disaster in ten years. In 2021, flash flooding triggered by a cloudburst killed over 200.

DEHRADUN: The peaceful Himalayan village of Dharali in Uttarkashi district has been nearly erased after a suspected cloudburst triggered a deadly flash flood and mudslide. In just hours, the village’s landscape was changed forever.

Rescue efforts in Uttarakhand’s Dharali village entered their fifth day on Saturday, with two bodies recovered so far and more than 60 people feared trapped, The New Indian Express reported.