At least 15 people were killed when an early morning squall hit several parts of the state on Tuesday.
Lightning caused seven of the deaths, while gusty winds accompanied by rain did the rest of the damage.
"Lightning deaths were reported from Aurangabad (2), Supaul (1), Madhubani (1), Purnea (1), Madhepura (1) and Darbhanga (1)," disaster management department principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit said. Sources in the disaster management department said that other deaths were caused either because of uprooting of trees or falling of walls. "A sum of Rs 4 lakh would be given as ex gratia to all those who lost lives in this natural disaster," the source added.
The calamity destroyed standing crop, damaged houses and uprooted trees in at least 11 districts. It also destroyed an under-construction pontoon bridge connecting Danapur with a diara.
The department was also collecting data from districts to figure out the extent of damage caused by the squall. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has directed district magistrates to survey the damage to crops, agencies said.
The MET office in Patna said the sudden change in the weather condition was caused by a system that led to the formation of a trough line which was passing from central Uttar Pradesh to eastern Assam.
"A cyclonic circulation was embedded in this trough which brought the squall," MET office scientist Anand Shankar said and added that the wind was blowing at a speed of over 80kmph.
The squall did bring some relief to residents, with the maximum temperature in Patna dropping from Monday's 36º C to 28.6º C, PTI quoted the the state Met office as saying. Gaya recorded 35.6ºC, down from 39.4ºC, the Met office bulletin said. Bhagalpur received 0.9 mm rainfall and Purnea 32 mm, it said.
Speaking about the likely weather condition in the coming few days, MET scientist said more rain and thunderstorm was in store for Wednesday but its intensity was likely to be less than that witnessed on Tuesday. According to the MET office forecast, northern and northeastern parts of Bihar and Patna too were likely to receive rain on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Patna recorded 10.9 mm of rainfall, out of which 10.5 mm was recorded till 8.30am. The rest of the rain was recorded between 8.30am and 5.30pm.
Early morning gusty winds and rainfall hit power supply in the city for about three hours as tree branches fell on supply lines at several places.
"Power cuts took place as branches of trees fell on supply lines at several places including near Vidyapati Bhavan, between Rajendra Nagar and Sahitya Sammelan, and a few other parts of the city leading to snapping of line," said Patna Electric Supply Undertaking general manager Dilip Kumar. "Power, however, was restored within the shortest possible time. Where poles got damaged, power was supplied through alternative sources till poles were replaced."
A 12-year-old boy, Karan Kumar, died in Yogipur area under Agamkuan police station area after he was electrocuted under power lines. Residents staged a protest demanding compensation.
The sudden change in the morning's weather left several parents confused on whether or not they should send their wards to school.
But, as the weather almost stabilised by 6.30am, most of them ended up sending their wards to school. "Even though I had prepared his tiffin box, I was hesitating to send my son to school but when the van came and most children were there, I too sent my son," said Komal Sinha, a resident of Ashiana Nagar.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AMIT BHELARI
