HYDERABAD: Sudden thundershowers, accompanied by lightning and gusty winds, took residents of Hyderabad and other parts of the state by surprise in the early hours of Friday. The unexpected weather caused the death of at least one person, damaged crops, and killed scores of cattle in rural areas, while in Hyderabad, it caused water-logging and severely impacted power supply in parts of the city.
The thundershowers were mainly experienced in Hyderabad, parts of Warangal (urban and rural), Jangaon, Siddipet, Yadadri, Malkajgiri, Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Khammam, Bhupalpally and Asifabad districts. These regions received rain on Friday evening as well.
Himayatnagar and Khairatabad received the maximum rainfall of 55.3 mm and 49.5 mm respectively, in just a few hours. Saroornagar and Asifnagar, meanwhile, recorded 30 mm rainfall, causing water-logging on some main roads like near the Liberty Crossroads, near Telugu Talli flyover and at Falaknuma. The police and a disaster response team swung into action to restore normalcy.
Parts of Hyderabad, including Banjara Hills and Mehdipatnam, witnessed trees getting uprooted, and large branches falling on roads and blocking them. The impact of the thundershowers, however, was much more severe in rural areas, especially in the erstwhile Warangal district, where a 55-year-old farmer, N Fakir Yadav, of Venkatapur village, was killed by lightning when he was in his field. In another incident, 45 sheep and goats belonging to three shepherds were killed by lightning in Vontimamidipalli village.
In Siddipet, many villages had their paddy crops damaged by a hailstorm, and Koheda Mandal, in the district, received 57.8 mm rainfall. Mulugu, Wargal, Markook, Jagadevpur, Rayalpad, Husnabad, Koheda and Akkannapet mandals witnessed heavy hailstorms along with thundershowers and heavy winds on Thursday night and Friday.
Heavy rains, hailstorms wreak havoc
As the paddy brought to the Husnabad market got damaged due to the rain, worried farmers are requesting the government to purchase their wet paddy. Thundershowers and hailstorms wrecked havoc on the paddy and maize crops in parts of Adilabad district early on Friday, and in Koutala mandal, heavy rains and winds damaged maize crops, uprooted trees and electric poles, interrupting power supply.
The sudden change in weather has resulted in the temperatures dropping below normal in many parts of the state. In Hyderabad, the maximum temperature recorded on Friday was 36.2 degree Celsius, which was 2.2 degree Celsius below normal, according to the IMD. In Tatipalli and Singaram villages of Jagtial, paddy crop was flattened due to the thundershowers, and hailstorm damaged mango crop in Raikal mandal. At Mohanraopet in Korutla, a huge tree fell on the national highway.
Expect this weather for a few more days
Similar weather conditions are expected to persist over the next few days, with thunderstorms, hailstorms, lightning and gusty winds very likely to occur at isolated places across all districts, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.