Power lines down, trees uprooted in Hyderabad

Normal life was thrown completely out of gear in and around Hyderabad yesterday afternoon as heavy rains accompanied by the powerful gale winds, lightning and hailstorms hit the city.

Indian Meteorological Department officials said the sudden change in the weather was the result of an upper trough prevailing from southern Karnataka to Tamil Nadu through Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

A curtain of water could be seen on the horizon, as grey clouds turned day into night, plunging the city into darkness.

Trees uprooted

With strong winds uprooting trees at some places and breaking down electricity lines, many areas in the city were without power. Many parts of the city including the key roads linking Hyderabad to Secunderabad and Cyberabad experienced massive traffic jams after major roads came under water due to water logging.

Apart from the core city areas including old city surrounding areas of Medchal, Jedimetla and Alwal also received heavy rains.

The temperature which was hovering around 40 degrees Celsius for many days in Hyderabad has now plunged below 30 degrees Celsius. The city and other parts of Telangana receive pre-monsoon showers in the month of May. The Indian meteorological department has forecast that the South West monsoon will hit India five days before its scheduled arrival on June 1.

Met office has issued a warning of thunderstorms and rains over Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana for the next three days