darkness before noon: Dark clouds accompanied by torrential rainfall caught Patna residents unaware around 11.20am on Saturday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, May 21: At 11 in the morning, Shanu Mohan, a first-year BTech student, was forced to park his motorcycle outside the newly built Eco Park on Bailey Road. The wind, blowing at a speed of nearly 100km per hour, had made it impossible for him to ride his bike.

Mohan had moved just a few inches from the vehicle when he heard a crumbling sound, only to find his motorbike crushed under the trunk of a fallen tree. The 22-year-old was lucky to escape but his motorbike was damaged beyond repair.

Still in a state of shock, Mohan said: “I was standing next to my bike when the tree fell on it. For a moment I thought I was dead. My summer vacation would have turned into mourning for my family. Thank God, I am alive.”

Mohan was not the only one caught in the heavy rain and thunderstorm that lashed Patna on Saturday morning. Chief minister Nitish Kumar too expressed concern over the sudden weather change and instructed Vyasiji, secretary of disaster management, to calculate the damage caused. Nitish asked the officer to ensure immediate relief to people hit by the squall.

Darkness enveloped the city around 11.30am and motorists were forced to switch on the headlights of their vehicles. Large hoardings, trees, electric poles came crashing down at many places.

The Telegraph reporter himself got stuck in the storm and had to take shelter in a house at Desh Ratan Marg.

P.K. Das, duty officer at the Met office, said: “The thunderstorm came at a speed of 96 kmph at 11.20am and lasted three minutes. The wind and the rain brought the temperature down by 8.5°C. It’s a pre-monsoon phenomena as the monsoon is expected to arrive on June 20.”

Sources in the Met department said had the thunderstorm lasted seven more minutes, it would have damaged many buildings and would have resulted in a cyclone-like situation. Patna received about 35mm rain, said the Met record. The department has predicted the possibility of thunder development tomorrow also.

The rain caused traffic jams at major points of the city, including Bailey Road, Boring Road, East Boring Canal Road, Beerchand Patel Path, Exhibition Road, Fraizer Road, Patliputra, Ashok Rajpath, Patna City, Rajabazar, Danapur, Ashiana Nagar and Digha.

Waterlogging was reported at Kadamkuan, Rajendrangar and West Lohanipur.