Severe thunderstorm, rain lash Bhubaneswar early morning

BHUBANESWAR: At around 3.45am on Friday, severe thunderstorm and lightning with heavy rain lashed the twin city. The thunderstorm continued for around 45 minutes and surprised city denizens. Gusty wind damaged trees in twin city and other parts of the state.
"I suddenly woke up to the severe thunderstorms at around 4am. I have never seen such thunderstorms in my lifetime.It continued for around 4.30am. The heavy wind created an illusion of cyclone. Because of the gusty wind the electricity supply was stopped for a few hours," said Sanjib Biswal, an entrepreneur staying in Nayapalli.
Trees were damaged in the gale. Fire services team cleared at some places in the city. Because of the heavy rain, flood water entered into different localities in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Gouri Garden in the city was severely affected because of the heavy downpour. Rain water stuck in the locality throughout the day.
"The heavy wind with rain created a problem in our locality. We were surrounded by water of five feet on road due to the heavy rain. After getting information, staff from fire services and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) reached the locality tried to pump out water from the locality," said Debaraj Pradhan, a retired superintendent of archeology.
Pradhan said his locality faces similar situation every time the rain lashes the city. "Pumping out of water was still going on by 8pm. Government should take strong measures to stop this problems in our area," he added.
HR Biswas, director of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bhubaneswar, said 93 km per hour wind speed was recorded at 4am on Friday. "We have seen heavy rain in the early morning. Cuttack and it's nearby areas received 7cm rainfall. Most of the coastal districts received rain along with some interior places of the state," he added.
Biswas said thunderstorm activity will be continued on May 30 and 31. But the intensity of thunderstorm activity will be increased on May 31, he warned.
IMD issued Orange warning for May 31. Thunderstorm with lightning and squally wind speed reaching upto 50-60kmph very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Khurdha, Kandhamal also heavy rainfal llikely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Gajapati,Ganjam,Deogarh,Keonjhar, Angul,Dhenkanal and Mayurbhanj.
Though the rain cooled twin city and other coastal parts, most places of western Odisha sizzled above 40 degree Celsius. These places were Titilagarh (42.5), Balangir (42.5), Bhawanipatna (41.5), Boudh (41.5), Malkangiri (41), Sonepur (41) and Talcher (40.1 degree Celsius. Other places like Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Hirakud also witnessed rise in temperature.