A road on the outskirts of Balasore town on Sunday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 27: Odisha districts reeling from post-Phailin floods have to bear it more as the weather report stated that there was no sign of normality returning immediately to the affected areas.

The Met office predicted that rain would continue in south and coastal Odisha during the next 24 hours under the impact of the low pressure centred over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and its neighbourhood.

True to the forecast, rain continued to pound Ganjam and Balasore faced the threat of fresh inundation with Subarnarekha river crossing the danger mark at several places in the district today.

Both road and rail communication was seriously hit by the floods with long-distance buses unable to ply on inundated roads in several areas and railway authorities cancelling several trains.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik was forced to cancel his aerial review of the flood-hit areas due to inclement weather. Balasore collector B. Parameswaran said: “We are keeping a close watch on the situation.”

The situation remains critical in Ganjam with no respite from rain that pounded most parts of the district.

Train services were disrupted between the southern India and eastern India as rainwater submerged railway tracks in the Vijayawada division of South Central Railway, forcing cancellation and diversion of several trains originating from or passing through Odisha, said East Coast Railway chief public relations officer J.P. Mishra.

The weather forecast does hold out both hope and anguish for the flood-hit regions.

“Rainfall will occur at many places and heavy rain at a few places in Ganjam and other southern districts and also coastal districts of Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara in the next 24 hours,” said director of Bhubaneswar Regional Meteorology Centre Sarat Chandra Sahu.

Sahu said the state had witnessed an “exceptional situation” of receiving 267 per cent more rainfall than the normal average of 111mm during October.

Taking note of the weather forecast, the state government has decided to step up relief distribution and restoration, which was hindered by the incessant rain and flood.

“With the rain abetting, the relief operation will be intensified. The relief package announced yesterday will be provided for three days”, said special relief commissioner P.K. Mohapatra.

Mohapatra said the state government was preparing a supplementary memorandum that would be handed over to the Central team that would visit Phailin and flood-hit areas tomorrow.