Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms lashed Odisha’s Cuttack and Bhubaneswar cities on Wednesday morning, affecting traffic and train services, reported Odisha TV. The regional Met department has forecast heavy rainfall across coastal Odisha over the next 48 hours.
“A cloud mass that had formed near Odisha-West Bengal border is moving towards the south triggering heavy rain in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack,” said director of India Meteorological Department (Bhubaneswar) Sarat Chandra Sahu, according to Odisha TV. “It is likely to move towards Puri first and then to the Bay of Bengal.”
Thunderstorms accompanied by hail and gusty winds are likely to occur in Dhenkanal, Angul, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh, Boudh, Sonepur, Sundergarh and Jharsuguda districts, reported PTI. In Keonjhar district, a person was injured when lightening struck his house at Jhanajhana village.
Traffic and train services disrupted
Several low-lying areas and roads were inundated as the rain continued for nearly four hours on Wednesday morning. Traffic was disrupted in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, reported PTI.
Train services between Bhubaneswar, Puri, Berhampur and Bhadrak were hit as overhead electric wires snapped and signals stopped functioning due to the downpour, reported Odisha TV. Around six trains were cancelled, while about 10 were stranded at different stations, an unidentified railway official told PTI. Heavy rain also led to waterlogging and roof leaks at the Bhubaneswar railway station, reported Odisha Sun Times.
A New Delhi-Bhubaneswar flight was diverted due to the bad weather conditions, reported Odisha Sun Times. Vistara UK 785 flight, scheduled to reach Bhubaneswar at 9.05 am, was diverted to Kolkata.
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