Monsoon Mayhem lashes India
Wayanad, Kerala — In late June, a hush settled over Chooralmala. The rains that drummed the hillsides last summer—the downpour that fractured the slopes and claimed at least 373 lives on July 30, 2024—had returned, but more gently. This time, the waters stayed at the riverbanks of Punnapuzha, rising slowly enough to avoid catastrophe, yet decisively enough to prompt district authorities to ban access to the damaged Mundakkai–Chooralmala area through July 25, 2025. After so much loss, even a calm monsoon reads as a warning.
A Monsoon That Moves Faster
India’s weather story in 2025 is one of speed and suddenness. The monsoon arrived in Kerala on May 24, nearly a week early, and had swept across the subcontinent by June 29—marking one of the fastest landfalls on record. Gone are the...