Heavy rain, coupled with lightning, hit the city early in the morning, leading to power cuts in majority areas and uprooting of many trees, including those on thethe main thoroughfares. Roads in colonies were waterlogged and road under bridges in several areas were filled with water, affecting vehicular movement.
The Meteorological department said a whopping 75 mm of rain, which is said to be the highest in a single spell in the last 10 years. The previously recorded highest rainfall was of 28 mm in 2006. The thundershowers that started around 3 a.m. continued till 4.30 a.m. with scary lightening, which was quite unusual. However, the rain continued till 6.30 a.m. Officials said one single spell of rain actually surpassed the monthly average rain generally recorded in May.
While the roads were blocked in several areas the downpour was welcomed by the people reeling under sweltering heat with unusually high temperatures this year. The temperature dropped quite significantly to below 20 degrees with the rain’s impact. It was a pleasant feeling for the morning walkers across the parks as they experienced the early morning cool breeze after a long time.
Several trees were uprooted on Tankbund leading to closure of Telugu Talli flyover and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials reached the spot and started clearing the trees cutting them with machines. Mr. B. Janardhan Reddy, Commissioner and Special Officer of the GHMC personally supervised the clearance. Later he said several low lying areas were inundated with rain water and relief measures were on.
Power supply was disrupted in most parts of the city as the trees fell on the electric wires due to gusty winds. In some areas it was restored by 9 a.m. while the work is on in other areas. The GHMC Commissioner said that power supply will be restored by afternoon in all areas. The gusty winds also affected the hoardings in all major centres with the some of them crashing while in most the flexis were tore apart.
The MET department predicted more rains in the next three days well.
