Assam flood devastates Hiloni Nepali Khuti village, death toll climbs to 78

Hiloni Nepali Khuti, a Gorkha village of roughly 200 families along the Dikhow River in Sivasagar district, was devastated on the afternoon of July 19 when torrential rain in Nagaland caused the river to surge and overrun the settlement. Villagers were out collecting logs and firewood when the floodwaters surged, destroying houses, cattle sheds and wiping out nearly 4,000 cattle, leaving only a few animals behind. Survivors such as Balaram Sharma and Prakash Sharma managed to rescue family members but lost most of their livestock. The disaster adds to a wider flooding crisis in Assam that has now resulted in 78 confirmed deaths, with more than three lakh residents impacted across 551 villages and over 21,500 hectares of farmland submerged.