Officials said Wednesday that at least 46 people died and many others are missing following floods that were triggered by heavy rainfalls in Uttarakhand, northern India.

According to S A Murugeshan (secretary of the state’s disaster management), rescuers worked all night to find bodies in debris and evacuate people in danger. Officials reported that 22 people had been killed in the floods on Tuesday.

For the past three days, incessant rains have been pouring down on mountainous states, flooding roads and causing bridge damage. Landslides also caused many homes to be destroyed. More than 2000 civil and paramilitary police officers have stepped in to help.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the rains are likely to recede in Uttarakhand by Wednesday. However, they warned of heavy downpours in the country’s northeastern region and southern regions.

Murugeshan said that the majority of deaths in Uttarakhand occurred in Nainital, where 28 people died on Tuesday. He said that most of the deaths were due to buildings and homes collapsing under the torrential rains.

Five laborers were killed in Mukteshwar (a popular hill station of the state), when a wall fell on their shanty. According to the official, nine family members died in Ramgarh, a hilly town.

Social media videos showed the Ganges River burst at Rishikesh and the picturesque Nainital Lake flooded with floodwaters.

Experts believe the extent of the rainfall has been extraordinary. Uttarakhand received 17.8 cm (7 inches) of rain over the first weeks of this month. However, it recorded almost 58 cm (22.8 inches) in just 22 hours Tuesday, according to Bikram Singh (director of the Meteorological Center Dehradun), the capital of the state.

He stated that climate change has increased not only the frequency but also the intensity of the rains.

This week, India saw some worrying rains in several parts of the country. At least 39 people have been killed by flooding and landslides from downpours this week in southern Kerala State. The state is currently on alert for more rains in coming days.

Floods and landslides are quite common in India’s Himalayan North. Scientists believe they are increasing in frequency as global warming causes melting glaciers.

Flash floods in Uttarakhand killed almost 200 people in February and destroyed homes. There were thousands of flood-related deaths in 2013 there.