A heavy flood struck Parsi Parlo Town in Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal Pradesh around 1 a.m. on Monday, 13 July, devastating the Parsi Parlo Town Baptist Church and the Parsi Parlo Prayer House of the Nyishi Baptist Church Council (NBCC), and sweeping away a Catholic church an hour later, as flash floods crippled the remote border town and cut off road connectivity to the district headquarters.
Nothing could be salvaged from the prayer house except some important documents and a printer belonging to the Pastoral Range, NBCC said, listing the church kitchen and its property, three prayer house staff quarters, the chapel hall, the common dining hall, and the bathrooms and toilets as totally washed away. Parsi Parlo Church itself sustained heavy damage. The flood also struck the Chote Pagam Baptist Church under the same Pastoral Range, damaging its building and boundary wall.
Bro. Rawe Mankhya, Range Pastor of the Parsi Parlo Pastoral Range, informed that by the grace of God, no casualties occurred during the flood. Rev. Dr. Tana Tagi Tara, General Secretary of NBCC, urged believers to stay safe, avoid panic and refrain from travelling during this time, and asked the faithful to pray for Parsi Parlo of Kurung Kumey district.
The devastation was not confined to the Baptist community. St. Thomas Church, a Catholic church belonging to the newly established Parciparlo Parish, was also completely swept away, in a flood that the Diocese of Itanagar placed at around 2 a.m., an hour after NBCC’s recorded time for the flood striking the town.
Bishop Benny Varghese of the Diocese of Itanagar said parish priests rescued the Blessed Sacrament and moved it to higher ground before the church collapsed. “This morning around 2:00 a.m., the water level of the Parciparlo River rose suddenly. As a result, St. Thomas Church has been washed away,” the bishop said in a message shared with the faithful. Speaking after a conversation with parish priest Fr. Naveen Kumar, he added that the school was fully submerged and that the presbytery and convent were badly affected, with water levels still rising. Established in 2019, the parish, referred to in different reports as Parciparlo Parish and Parsi Parlo Parish, serves more than 1,200 Catholics across 14 substations.
Beyond the two churches, the floods battered the wider town. The overflowing Kumey River inundated government offices, the Inspection Bungalow, schools and several residential buildings, local authorities said. Roads in multiple colonies were left underwater and two residential houses suffered partial damage.
Heavy rain also brought landslides and soil erosion to parts of the district. Several valley bridges gave way, including those connecting Huri to Damin and Pagam village, severing the only road link between Parsi Parlo and the district headquarters at Koloriang. The disruption has hit transport links, delayed emergency response and cut off the movement of essential supplies. A separate bridge collapse cut off road access to an Indo-Tibetan Border Police camp.
“Heavy rainfall in the upper reaches of the Kumey River during the early hours triggered widespread flash floods, causing significant damage in Parsi Parlo Circle and Damin Sub-Division,” an official said, adding that the district administration was working with police and paramilitary forces to take stock of the situation and mount relief operations.
Officials said Monday’s deluge marked the third major flash flood event in Arunachal Pradesh within a month. No casualties had been reported from either community by the time of filing, though authorities continued to monitor river levels amid persistent rain and asked residents to stay alert to the risk of further landslides.
Elsewhere in the state, Baptist churches were separately responding to an earlier flood event. On Sunday, July 12, the NBCC and the Arunachal Baptist Church Council completed the second phase of relief distribution for families affected by earlier flash floods at Possa and NEEPCO colony in Keyi Panyor district, taking total assistance disbursed so far to Rs 21 lakh, with contributions from Baptist associations across the state and beyond.
Relief and survey work continued in Parsi Parlo through the day, with district officials and church leaders across denominations citing the safety of residents and displaced clergy as the immediate priority.
