Three generations of 70-year-old Mina Tamang’s family had lived and prospered on the banks of the river, in the commercial town of Singtam in Sikkim, 30 kilometres from the state capital Gangtok. For years, the river had risen ominously when it rained in the mountains all around them, but for the most part, Teesta had kept the peace, sustaining the people that lived around it. On Wednesday, when the river rose again, this time breaking the embankments framing her course, Mina had all of half an hour warning; 30 minutes where her entire family saved themselves by running out of their homes; 30 minutes, at the end of which, they no longer have one.

On Wednesday, water from the Teesta coursed through Sikkim and parts of West Bengal, caused by a combination of heavy rains and the glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) at the Lohnak Lake in the northern reaches of the state, leaving a trail of destruction behind. Arterial roads like the National Highway 10, crucial for movement in the hill state, were washed away in parts, a 1,200 MW dam across the river in Chungthang was cleaved through the middle, more than 120 people, including 23 Army personnel went missing, with the official toll at 11 and likely to climb.

Tamang said that at around 1.30pm, her family that included her son, pregnant daughter-in-law and two grandchildren received over loudspeakers, by police, that the water level in the Teesta was increasing rapidly and they had to move to safer ground. “We rushed out, and in 30 minutes, everything was gone. We couldn’t rescue anything but ourselves. Our entire three storey home was washed away,” Tamang said.

Pratima Chettri, another Singtam resident, said they received a warning at 1:30pm. By 3pm, the Indreni Bridge in the town was washed away,” Chettri said.

“In our area, more than 15 houses were washed away. We exited our homes only with the clothes on our back. We had never imagined that such a catastrophe would arrive and render us homeless,” Chettri added.

As the waters ran riot in the small town, crashing through homes and endangering lives, residents became first responders. Hem Kumar Chettri said he saw at least 60 people stranded in buildings with waters swirling around them.

“We had to break the first floors of many houses to rescue people trapped on the ground floor submerged by the rising river,” he said.

In other parts of Sikkim, the National Highway 10, which connects Sikkim to West Bengal, was washed away near Swetjhora, leaving tourists stranded.

“We were travelling from Gangtok to Siliguri when our car was forced to halt. The highway had caved in… all the cars were moving slowly because of the rains, otherwise the cave in would have swallowed a vehicle,” Dolma Bhutia, a college student returning home to Sikkim, told PTI.

The flash-floods also caused damage in parts of West Bengal, such as Kalimpong. Biren Gurung, a resident of Melli village, said, “At least 10 concrete homes got washed away in the space of half an hour.”