India ? Monsoon rains pummeled northern India, bringing dozens of buildings crashing down and killing 74 people, police said today.

The deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh state, one of India’s poorest, bringing this monsoon season’s death toll to more than 300 people across India.

Monsoon season, which lasts from June to September in India, brings rain vital for the country’s farmers but also massive destruction. Floods, mudslides, house collapses and lightning strikes kill hundreds every year.

One of the worst hit places was the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where 11.5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.

Nine members of a single family died in Varanasi when the deluge caused the walls of a house to collapse, an official there said. Four others were also killed in the city, 165 miles southeast of Lucknow, the state capital.