Shimla, August 1: The meteorological office here has issued a "red alert" of heavy to extremely heavy rain along with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in three districts of Kangra, Kullu and Mandi on Thursday. It also warned of landslides, mudslides and land sinking, besides disruptions of essential services like water and electricity, communications and related services, damage to fruit and standing crops and risk to vulnerable structures and 'kutcha' houses due to strong winds and waterlogging in low-lying areas.

Four people were killed and about 50 went missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses, bridges and roads on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. Himachal Pradesh Cloudburst: 19 People Missing After Cloudburst in Shimla's Samej Khad, Search and Rescue Operation Underway (Watch Video).

Moderate flash flood threat is likely in isolated parts of Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Sirmaur and Shimla districts in the next six hours, the MeT office said. Heavy rains have lashed parts of Himachal since Wednesday evening. Palampur with 212 mm of rain was wettest in the state followed by Chauri (203 mm), Dharamshala (183.2 mm) Jogindernagar (161 mm), Kangra (150 mm), Sujanpur Tira (142 mm), Baijnath (135 mm), Nadaun (103.5 mm) , Poanta Sahib (121.2 mm), Nahan (98.9 mm), Kufri (84.5 mm), Shimla (64.6 mm), Sainj (61 mm), Bilaspur (56 mm) and Berthin (50 mm).

Heavy to very heavy rain has been recorded at 20 stations in the hill state, meteorological expert Sandeep Sharma said, adding that the wet spell would continue for the next four-five days in the state. Himachal Pradesh has received 266.6 mm of rains against normal rainfall of 366.3 mm, a deficit of 27 per cent in the ongoing monsoon season from June 1 to July 31. Himachal Pradesh Weather Forecast: IMD Issues Orange Alert for Six Districts for Heavy Rain on June 29-30.

Data of the state emergency operation till Tuesday evening showed that rain-related incidents had claimed 65 lives since the onset of monsoon on June 27. The state has also suffered losses to the tune of Rs 433 crore, according to the state's Emergency Operation Centre.