Traffic came to a standstill and normal life was thrown out of gear after heavy rain lashed the city on Tuesday afternoon. More than 35 trees were uprooted at various places in the city and according to the Met officials the damage could have been due to heavy winds blowing at a speed of almost 100 km per hour.
The incessant downpour that began at around 3 pm, had a major impact at places like Nampally, Basheerbagh and Tank Bund. The GHMC emergency squads along with the traffic police grappled to clear off roads for more than an hour after the rain receded.
Complaints came pouring in at the GHMC’s emergency call centre just within half an hour after the showers lashed the city.
“We received complaints of about 40 trees falling from areas like Chikkadpally, Gunfoundry, Basheerbagh, Domalguda and Kacheguda etc. However there were no complaints of waterlogging this time,” said a GHMC official from the emergency squad.
Commuters were seen stranded at various places unable to move for a long time as GHMC workers began removing the huge obstructions from the roads.
A huge banner on the road behind the LB stadium at Basheerbagh also came crashing down along with several trees in the area. It was later removed by the traffic police and GHMC officials.
“As per our readings, the city received rainfall of 4.88 mm of rainfall. The showers were as a result of the formation of mature cumulonimbus clouds. When these clouds are mature, the thunder showers can be accompanied by heavy winds travelling at a speed of around 100 kmph,” said assistant metrologist M Narasimha Rao.
He said the weather would be more or less similar on Thursday and certain parts of the city may receive rainfall along with thundershowers.