Heavy rain triggers flash floods in Odisha

Disruptive deluge

Heavy rain during the last three days has triggered flash floods in some of the rivers in Odisha, particularly in the western and southern region.

According to the reports reaching the state headquarters, the western Odisha Kalahandi district has been worst hit because of floods in four local rivers — Hati, Tel, Rahul and Udanti. Flood water have entered into villages in Thuamal-Rampur and Kalampur blocks of the district. The district headquarters town of Bhawanipatna has been cut off from some areas of the district.

Vehicular traffic on national highways number 26 came to a grinding halt on Friday as flood water submerged a bridge over the Hati River near Junagarh town of the district. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the bridge.

Like Kalahandi, some villages in southern Odisha tribal dominated district of Koraput have also been affected by floods in the local rivers.

Meanwhile, the local met office here in its press release circulated on Friday evening predicted more rainfall in the state during the next 24 hours. In some places the rainfall will be heavy.

However, the situation is expected to improve after 48 hours as the low pressure in the Bay of Bengal which had activated the monsoon in the eastern state and triggered the rainfall is slowly moving away towards neighbouring Chhattisgarh.

During the last 24 hours, Koraput in Koraput district received maximum 110.3 mm of rainfall followed by another southern Odisha town of Malkangiri in Malkangiri district with 71 mm of rains. Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district recorded 43 mm of rainfall.

Among the towns in north Odisha, Baripada in tribal dominated Mayurbhanj district received 55 mm of rainfall. The highest rainfall in coastal Odisha — 42.6 mm — was recorded in Cuttack city in Cuttack district. Capital Bhubaneswar received 27.2 mm of rain during the last 24 hours.