The worst floods over the past half century have killed hundreds in Pakistan and Kashmir, after five days of heavy rain left complete villages under water with rescue and relief workers striving to save thousands of stranded people.
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"Thousands of people are still stranded and we have rescued several thousands," police Inspector General of Jammu region, Rajesh Kumar, told Agence France Presse (AFP).
"More than 150 bodies have (also) been recovered so far. The exact number is hard to assess as we are still searching for bodies."
With all phone lines down in the main city of Srinagar and roads cut off, the exact scale of the disaster is still unclear.
The devastating level of destruction was revealed in a video footage shot from army helicopters which showed entire villages completely under water.
Residents could be seen waving from rooftops while vehicles and livestock were washed away by the flood waters.
Vinod Vishen, a resident of Srinagar's upmarket Karan Nagar neighbourhood, described on Facebook how he had moved his entire family to the top of the house.
"Water rising relentlessly," Vishen wrote, later expressing fears that old houses in the area could collapse.
"Old houses are expected to collapse as water softens up the weight bearing walls. Very very grim situation," he posted.
According to disaster officials, some 350 villages have been submerged since torrential monsoon rains triggered flooding and landslides across the picturesque Himalayan region.
Thousands of troops, police and other emergency personnel, backed by helicopters and boats, have fanned out across the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the state to deliver blankets, tents and other aid in an attempt to minimize casualties, the officials said.
"With some 750 rescue personnel in operations there, our teams have saved about 5,005 people so far," Sandeep Rai Rathore, inspector general of the National Disaster Response Force, told AFP.
"But this will go on for a couple more days or even more because the water level has not yet receded. We have to try to save all human life."
In Punjab in Pakistan, a senior official in the province's rescue agency said 142 people had died in the province, with 108 villages and farmland damaged.
He added that around 5,000 people had been rescued since Thursday, but that three soldiers had gone missing during the rescue operation.
Ahmed Kamal, spokesman for Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, said 48 people had died in the Pakistani-administered Kashmir and 11 in the adjacent Gilgit Baltistan area since the flooding began.
"Army helicopters and navy boats are rescuing people and taking them to safety from submerged villages in Punjab and affected areas of Kashmir,'' Kamal said. He said that the flooding had hit 286 villages in Punjab, as several rivers breached their banks, and that the crisis was rapidly becoming a "national emergency".
More than 4,000 homes across Pakistan have collapsed, rendering thousands of people homeless.
Pakistan's armed forces and civilian rescuers have mounted a massive operation using helicopters and boats to get villagers to safety. Kamal said 95 relief camps had been set up for those displaced by the flooding.
Pakistan and India suffer widespread flooding each year during the monsoon season, which runs from June through September. In 2010, flash floods killed 1,700 people in Pakistan.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed in its entirety by both countries.
