A thunderstorm killed 28 people in Uttar Pradesh on Friday night, most of them buried in house cave-ins or trapped under uprooted pillars, electric poles or trees.
Two women drowned while trying to cross a stream that was overflowing under heavy rain in the Shakumbhari Devi area of Saharanpur.
The storm mostly affected the state’s eastern and central districts. Power supply was disrupted for several hours at many places.
Train services were hit for about 10 hours between Kanpur and Orai (Jalaun district) and between Chauri Choura and Gauri Bazar (both in Gorakhpur) when the electric lines above the tracks were damaged.
Bundelkhand reported 10 deaths, three each from house collapses in Hamirpur and Banda districts, and two each in the Mahoba and Orai districts.
Four people died in the eastern district of Kaushambi and one in Pratapgarh. One each died in Azamgarh, Ballia and Bhadohi. Deaths were reported from Kanpur, Chitrakoot, Deoria and Maharajganj, too.
The meteorological department measured 90mm rainfall in Ayodhya, 61mm in Allahabad, 59mm in Unnao, 51mm in Siddharthnagar and 32mm in Saharanpur on Friday.
Temperature falls
Uttar Pradesh also experienced relief as rain brought temperatures down in parts of the state.
Rainfall ranging from 3mm to 18mm was recorded in Bahraich, Muzaffarnagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Najibabad and Meerut.
Though Lucknow didn’t report rainfall, its maximum temperature settled at 34 degrees Celsius, 6.1 degrees below normal, the Met department said.
Moradabad was the hottest in the state at 38.5 degrees Celsius, well below the over 40-degree temperatures seen in the past more than a week.
Thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds are likely at isolated places over the state, the Met department said.
Hailstorm in hills
Parts of Himachal Pradesh also witnessed light to moderate rain and hailstorms, prompting the Met department to issue a yellow warning in most parts of the state.
A hailstorm accompanied by heavy downpour lashed Shimla and its adjoining areas on Friday evening.
