Heavy rains across Telangana kill goat herder, destroy crops

HYDERABAD: Heavy rains, accompanied by hail storms and thunderstorms, continued across the state for the second day, affecting crops in several districts, particularly Kothagudem, and claiming the life of a goat herder in Nalgonda's Nagarjunasagar Mandal.

Many districts in the state, including Zaheerabad, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Vikarabad, Kamareddy, Narayanpet, Gadwal, Jagitial, and Sangareddy, witnessed severe thunderstorms. The southern part of the state was severely impacted, with Hyderabad, Mahbubnagar, Ranga Reddy, Wanaparthy, Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda seeing sporadic but widespread rain from Thursday night until late Friday night.

The central part of the state, including Yadadri, Medak, Medchal, and Jangaon, Bhongir, remained dry for the most part, with strong gusts and moderate drizzles in parts. Storms wreaked havoc on crops such as maize, chilli, mango, and papaya in the Kothagudem district.

Lightning struck a 17-year-old tribal goat herder and over 40 of his sheep in Nalgonda's Nagarjunasagar Mandal, killing them both. When the rains refused to cease, Saidanayak of Chintala Thanda took shelter under a tree with his goats. On Thursday, he and the goats were killed instantly by a thunderbolt.

In Hyderabad, motorists experienced traffic jams from early in the day until the evening on Friday. Students taking the Intermediate public exams had a difficult time getting to their exam centres.  Schools witnessed lower attendance as well, according to teachers, who said that due to the forecast, parents were not inclined to send their children until Monday.

Power outages in Ameerpet, Basheerbagh, Manikonda, Ameenpur, Kukatpally, and a few more localities around Lakdikapul on Thursday night remained unresolved until Friday morning. After a transformer burst, residents in Neredmet worried about using electronic appliances. A few locations in the city, such as Barkatpura and Mettuguda, had wires that were dangerously dangling, which alarmed the residents.

The Indian Meteorological Department issued an orange alert stating that thunderstorm accompanied with lightning, gusty winds 40 kmph and hailstorm are likely at isolated places in Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagityal, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam Jangaon, Yadadri Bhuvangiri, Rangareddy, Hyderabad, Sangareddy, Medak, Kamareddy.

A yellow alert was issued for the remaining districts of Telangana with thunderstorms and winds likely to occur. In Hyderabad, the minimum temperature on Saturday is likely to dip to 19°C with a maximum temperature of 27°C.