Lucknow A 14-year-old boy was killed and three others injured when a high-velocity thunderstorm accompanied by rain hit the state capital on Saturday. The storm uprooted several trees, electric poles, uni-poles and signboards, damaged properties, old buildings, cars and two-wheelers. It led to a power outage lasting more than 3-4 hours in several parts of the city.
At Lucknow airport, the maximum wind speed was 83 kmph while at the Surface Automatic Weather System, it was recorded at 72 kmph.
The 14-year-old boy, Bhola, was killed at Bazarkhala area and another 12-year-old boy and his mother were injured in Lal Kuan area when a wall collapsed on them. In another incident, a 15-year-old got injured on Kursi Road.
The Met department has issued an orange alert for thunderstorm and strong winds in Lucknow, Hardoi, Sitapur and west UP districts like Noida, Agra, Aligarh, Meerut and adjoining areas. Parts of west UP would experience more rain on Sunday, said Mohd Danish, Lucknow met in charge. The weather would change from Monday, he said.
In Lal Kuan, a giant uni-pole fell over an old house and a portion of it got damaged. The debris fell on a woman and her minor son and both were injured.
Eyewitnesses said that at several places, people had a narrow escape as giant trees and electric poles got uprooted but it was the dangling wires that prevented them from falling over people on Islamia College Road behind Lok Bhawan.
Traffic cmne to standstill in Sarojinagar as trees got uprooted and fell on the road. Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, who was there, got out of his car and walked a little distance to reach his destination.
“The thunderstorm struck the city at around 12 noon on Saturday. The intensity was very strong. Gusty winds at the speed of 60 kmph wreaked havoc in different parts of the city,” said Mohd Danish, met office in charge.
Several zones of the state capital experienced a blackout lasting for approximately four hours.
A number of cars and two wheelers were damaged in residential areas as trees and electric poles fell on them. Many residents said they moved their cars to sheltered spots when strong winds started blowing.
Vineet Gupta, a resident of Aminabad said the storm caused substantial damage to trees and at least five cars were damaged in the area. “Every year, fully grown trees are uprooted due to thunderstorms that damage cars parked in open slots. As the storms rage, we see residents running to move their cars to safety. In the process, they risk their lives amid falling branches,” he said.
Mangesh Kumar, chief fire officer, Lucknow station, said that he received several calls from residents about hoardings falling over their buildings. “We had sent vehicles to different areas to remove the trees and tried to pull up electric poles which fell on the streets. We have cleared several roads which were blocked due to the falling of trees. Damage has been reported from many parts of the city,” he said.
As per a forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), there is a possibility of a partly cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers on Sunday as well. Officials said the sky would remain cloudy and a thunderstorm was also in the offing.