HYDERABAD: Thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds wreaked havoc across Hyderabad and a few other districts in the State on Sunday, resulting in long power cuts, uprooting or damaging hundreds of trees, flooding low lying roads causing traffic jams and inundating streets in residential areas. The GHMC Disaster Response Force and police personnel were pressed into service at many places to ease the movement of people and traffic.
While the thundershowers caused some destruction, they also helped bring down the daytime temperatures by 1 to 3 degree Celsius in many parts of State. By night, Kundaram in Jaipur mandal of Mancherial district recorded 107.3mm rainfall, in a span of just few hours, followed by 98mm at Mangapet in Mulugu district, according to Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS). Under the Greater Hyderabad limits, 72mm rainfall was recorded at Patancheru. The area recorded around 69mm rainfall within a span of around four hours between 12 pm and 4 pm.
Power outages accompany thundershowers in Hyderabad
Many areas that experienced the intense thundershowers saw power cuts. In Hyderabad, power outages lasted close to three hours in many places in the afternoon. However, it was restored in most of the areas by late evening. When contacted, TSSPDCL Director (Operations) Srinivas Reddy informed that around 500 feeders had tripped in the city due to uprooted trees.
However, by 6 pm, the TSSPDCL staff had managed to restore 360 feeders. He said that by night, all major and minor issues were addressed in the city as well as in the districts. In places where the transformers were affected, they were replaced with mobile transformers, he informed, while adding that teams have also been alerted, as the meteorology department has forecast thundershowers over the next few days.
Monsoon cover by June 8
The thundershowers were a normal phenomena, due to formation of cumulonimbus clouds. There was moisture incursion in the State from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, apart from a trough passing through the State, said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) meteorologist. The IMD has forecast thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and winds in the next two days in Hyderabad and at isolated places in Vikarabad, Sangareddy, Medak, Siddipet, Medchal, Bhongir, Rangareddy, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Wanaparthy and Gadwal. It also announced that conditions are very likely to be favourable for the southwest monsoon to have arrive in Kerala on Monday. Hyderabad may be under monsoon cover by June 8.