Why in News:

• More than a thousand families in Tripura have been displaced after their houses were submerged in flash floods that hit parts of the state.

Details:

• The floods were triggered by heavy rains, which caused the water level of river Juri and river Kakti to rise submerging houses in low-lying areas of North Tripura, Unakoti and Dhalai districts. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Tripura State Rifles (TSR), firefighter team, district, and state administration have launched a joint rescue operation and have brought over a thousand people to safety. According to Skymet Weather, the rains have been attributed to the cyclonic circulation present over Northeast Bihar and a trough extending from this system to Nagaland. Another cyclonic circulation is seen over South Assam and a trough is also running from eastern parts of Bihar to North Odisha.
• Warm and moist winds are continuing over the northeastern states. Apart from these weather systems, Western Disturbance was also moving across higher latitudes.

Flash flood

• A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, tropical storm, or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)

• It comes under Ministry of Home Affairs
• It is the only dedicated disaster response force in the world
• Established in 2006
• HQ: New Delhi
• It works under National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) which lays down policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management.
• At present there are 12 battalions in NDRF which are deployed strategically across country to provide immediate response.
• 4 new battalions are sanctioned by Union Cabinet