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.

Dozens of people are missing in both countries, while rescuers in Pakistan have evacuated 1,300 tourists trapped by flash flooding and landslides. Meanwhile, a helicopter carrying relief supplies has crashed in bad weather.