Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, May 26: Motorists stopped in their tracks as a violent dust storm, followed by heavy rain on Sunday afternoon, broke a long spell of sweltering heat, bringing cheer to the summer-weary in the twin cities.

The thunder squall, with wind speeds reaching 72kmph, left a trail of uprooted trees, damaged thatched roofs and torn electric wires. But no one complained.

The young and the old came out of their homes to get drenched. Heavy rain continued for more than an hour and the showers recurred in the evening.

Bhubaneswar recorded a rainfall of 16.7 mm while Cuttack received 29mm.

Weekend shoppers were spotted rejoicing in the rain and stepping into puddles of muddy water with the least bit of worry about their clothes.

“My husband and I were out for shopping but we were so happy to see the black clouds. And finally, when it did rain, it was such a great relief,” said Sunanda Tripathy, 31, a banker.

The state had been in the grip of heat wave conditions with the mercury crossing the 45 degrees Celsius mark in many places. Balangir was the hottest place in the state today recording a temperature of 45.7 degrees followed by Sambalpur, which recorded 45.3 degrees.

“The heat and humidity had become unbearable. It was difficult to sleep in peace at night. I can’t wait for the monsoon to arrive,” said Bairagi Jena, a teacher.

The last time the twin cities had experienced rain was May 12, which resulted from the formation of a cyclonic storm called Mahasen over southeast Bay of Bengal. The extent of damage today, however, was more severe.

Electric poles and traffic posts were uprooted in some areas of Bhubaneswar and a large number of hoardings were damaged in the twin cities. Electricity was cut off in some parts of Bhubaneswar till the rain subsided. Rourkela, which had been experiencing very high temperatures over the past two days, also received moderate rainfall.

“Hopefully, the showers will bring the temperature down,” said Arbind Sahu, a resident of Bhubaneswar.

Officials of the regional meteorological centre in Bhubaneswar said that the thunder squall occurred following a cyclonic circulation over the Odisha coast and temperature was likely to decrease by one or two degrees from Monday.

“Rain and thunderstorm are likely to occur at one or two places in the next 48 hours,” said director of the meteorological centre, Sarat Chandra Sahu, adding that monsoon was likely to hit the Odisha coast by the second week of June.

“It was an unexpected change in weather but provided much-needed relief from the scorching heat that all of us were facing over the last couple of weeks,” said Jay Mohapatra, a marketing executive of Cuttack.

A few low-lying areas in Cuttack, including Pithapur, Rovers Street and Kali Gali, faced waterlogging problems following the rain. Some drains also overflowed.