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.

Flash floods swept away several homes and shops in northern India, killing at least four people and leaving many others trapped under debris, officials said Tuesday. Local television channels showed flood waters surging down a mountain and crashing into Dharali,