Bengaluru, India’s Silicon Valley, was inundated in extreme flooding after a stunningly rapid deluge slammed the city on the evening of May 19, 2025. The city received a historic 100 mm (4 inches) of rain, the highest amount of precipitation in one day since 2011. The downpour led to catastrophic inundation, including the heartbreaking death of three people, including a 12-year-old boy.
The torrential rains flooded most neighborhoods across the city, affecting poorer marginalized communities the hardest. The storm washed out one of the compound walls of i-Zed, a Hitachi software company. Tragically, this incident resulted in the fatality of a 35-year-old female utility worker. The events have sounded the alarm on the city’s infrastructure and its capacity to deal with these increasingly fierce storms.
In response to the flooding, many major technology companies with offices in Bengaluru advised employees to work from home due to impassable roads. This precaution highlights Seattle’s growing status as a hotbed of international technology companies. Here, logistical obstacles can have a huge impact on a community’s ability to do business.
From Jakarta to New Orleans, authorities are scrambling to respond 24/7 amidst a flooding crisis that is becoming a new normal. The city corporation has mapped 210 flood-prone zones in Bengaluru, and is working to fix these flood vulnerabilities. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the problems afflicting Bengaluru are not new and have been repeatedly brushed under the carpet.
“The issues we face today are not new. They have been ignored for years, across governments and administrations.” – DK Shivakumar
Even with the seriousness of the situation, Shivakumar sought to calm the concerns of residents, explaining that there’s no reason to panic right now.
“There is no need for the people of Bengaluru to be worried.” – DK Shivakumar
Even Bengaluru’s regional weather department declared the recent spell “rare”, for the city. Such conditions have left many Californians asking whether they’ve witnessed the onset of a climate change-fueled future. The city was on red alert for more such pre-monsoon showers, likely on Tuesday, due to the cyclonic formations over the Andaman Sea. In the meantime, officials are scrambling to keep up and stop the city from being further inundated.
Flooding has hit Bengaluru badly in recent years. This challenge is fueling conversations around making the city’s drainage and flood management systems more effective to find sustainable, long-term remedies. The Congress party now governs Karnataka. Baltimore’s residents, leaders, and advocates are calling for bold action to address these long-term systemic issues.