Five days of relentless rain, and the number keeps climbing. What started as a flood affecting roughly 10 lakh people in Patna last week has now grown into something that stretches across four states.
On Thursday, five people drowned in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, four of them from the same family, in Koili Khutaha village. It's the kind of detail that turns a statistics-heavy story back into what it actually is: families losing people, not just numbers on a district report.
The Numbers Have Grown Since Last Week
According to Bihar's Disaster Management Department, around 43.64 lakh people across 527 gram panchayats and 85 blocks in 14 districts have now been affected. That's up from roughly 40 lakh just a day earlier, and considerably higher than the 10 lakh figure across 11 districts we reported when the Ganga first broke its Patna record on 5 September.
The worst-hit districts remain largely the same: Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, and Buxar, Samastipur, Munger, Katihar, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Purnia, and Arwal.
The rain isn't slowing down either. Bihar has recorded 83.6mm of rainfall in September so far, 24% above what's normal for this point in the month, and the weather office is forecasting more heavy rain over the next two days.
Multiple Rivers, Multiple Danger Marks
This flood isn't being driven by one river. At last check, the Ganga was flowing above danger levels at Digha, Gandhi Ghat, Hathidah, Bhagalpur, Kahalgaon, and Munger. The Gandak was above the danger mark at Dumriya Ghat, the Kosi at both Baltara and Kursela, and the Budhi Gandak at Khagaria.
At Sultanganj in Bhagalpur, the point that broke a five-year flood record days after Patna's own 10-year record fell, the Ganga was flowing 2.22 metres above the danger level on Thursday morning, though officials noted the level had stabilised rather than continuing to rise.
It's Not Just Bihar Anymore
What makes this week different is how far the flooding has spread beyond Bihar's borders.
In Uttar Pradesh, floods have now affected 37 districts, with active flooding reported in 25 of them. The state has evacuated more than 19,000 people and deployed over 2,000 boats, 1,315 flood shelters, and 1,072 medical teams, numbers that suggest this isn't a minor overflow but a genuinely large-scale response.
West Bengal is dealing with its own flooding in the Lower Damodar Valley, where river levels have crossed danger marks after extremely heavy rain. SDRF, NDRF, police, and civil defence teams are already on the ground there, and the IMD has forecast more heavy rain over Gangetic West Bengal through Friday.
Odisha is bracing for what the weather office is calling isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall through 11 September, driven by a developing low-pressure area over the north Bay of Bengal. Uttarakhand, separately, remains under a spell of heavy rain and thunderstorms that's expected to continue through 13 September.
Four states, four different rivers or rain systems, one shared cause: an unusually wet September sitting on top of a monsoon that was already active.
What Relief Efforts Look Like Right Now
Bihar's government is currently running 951 community kitchens across the affected areas, along with 15 relief camps housing 11,255 people who've had to leave their homes. Authorities have distributed around 2.57 lakh polythene sheets and 40,600 dry-ration packets so far, and 6,692 quintals of cattle fodder for families who depend on livestock.
For evacuation and moving people and supplies through flooded areas, 1,932 boats are currently in operation, backed by 27 State Disaster Response Force teams and 10 National Disaster Response Force teams.
What This Actually Means If You're in an Affected Area
- Don't assume a stable river level means the danger has passed. Several rivers are described as "stable" while still sitting well above their danger marks. Stable doesn't mean safe, it means the situation isn't actively worsening at that specific point, for now.
- Floodwater and drinking water don't mix safely, no matter how many times this gets said. As we've covered in earlier coverage of contaminated floodwater reaching Bihar's rivers, sewage, agricultural runoff, and whatever else floodwater picks up don't disappear just because the water looks calmer.
- If you're in one of the 25 actively flooding UP districts or Bihar's 14 affected districts, keep a genuine emergency water supply on hand. When municipal or well water is in question, having a sealed, tested source you don't have to think twice about, rather than assuming tap water is fine because it looks clear, is one practical thing you can control while everything else about this situation is out of your hands.
This is where something like Amaayu fits in without needing to be oversold: in a flood situation, verified, sealed water isn't a luxury item, it's one less thing to worry about when the actual water supply around you is genuinely uncertain.
The Bottom Line
This flood has grown every single day since Patna's record broke on 5 September, from roughly 10 lakh people to over 43 lakh, and from one state to four. The rain isn't done yet, and Bihar's own weather office is forecasting more of it through the weekend. For families in the affected districts, the practical priorities stay the same regardless of which specific river breaks which specific record next: stay off unstable embankments, don't trust floodwater, and have a plan for safe drinking water that doesn't depend on the tap working normally.
This article reflects official figures from Bihar's Disaster Management Department and reporting as of 10 September 2026, 5:42 PM. These numbers are changing daily and may be revised as the situation develops.
