Thunderstorm Alert: Death toll mounts to 80 in 5 states

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After claiming 48 lives and leaving hundreds injured in six states, another bout of thunderstorm and dust storm was expected to hit parts of north-west india over the next 48 to 72 hours, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The death toll now stands at 80.

The alert also said thunderstorm with winds speeds of up to 70 km per hour are “very likely” on Monday in 26 districts of Uttar Pradesh. It said the districts that could be affected are Bahraich, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharth Nagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Azamgargh and Ambedkar Nagar. 

The other districts are Mau, Deoria, Ballia, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Pratapgargh, Allahabad, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Varanasi, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra, it said.

The meteorological office also forecasts rain in isolated parts of east Uttar Pradesh and said the weather is most likely to remain dry in west UP.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the next two days will see light rain and thunderstorms in Delhi, though not as strong. 

“There is a circulation of a western disturbance in northwest India. We had forecast that the weather will be adverse for two-three days. This thunderstorm will continue for the next 48-72 hours,” said Charan Singh, Scientist, IMD, on the weather change in Delhi.

Dust storm, hail and lightning have claimed as many as 75 lives in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi. 51 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh on the intervening night of May 13-14 due to lightening and thunderstorm while in Andhra Pradesh nine lives were lost.

As it happened:

# The death toll in Uttar Pradesh rises to 51, out of which eight people died due to drowning in Barabanki district. Toll for injured persons has gone up to 83 persons in the state, an official told PTI. The overall death across the nation has reached 75.

# Violent clashes between TMC and BJP workers reported in North 24 Parganas' Jaingda.  

# Death toll in Uttar Pradesh mounts to 42. Number of injured up to 83. Here is the updated list: 

# 

# Weather forecast for Today: 

Thunderstorm accompanied with squall (wind speed reaching 50-70 kmph) very likely at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,  East Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim and Odisha.

Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds very likely at isolated places over Uttarkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,  Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, Telangana, Rayalaseema, South  Interior Karnataka and Tamilnadu & Puducherry. 

Heavy rain very likely at isolated places over  West Bengal & Sikkim and north Odisha.

Heat wave conditions very likely at some places over southwest Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Marathawada.

Duststorm very likely at isolated places over Rajasthan.

# 53 people have died and 65 have been injured due to thunderstorm across the country. 39 deaths in UP, 9 in Andhra Pradesh, 4 in West Bengal and one in Delhi. Meanwhile, 53 injured in UP, 11 injured in Delhi and one injured in West Bengal: MHA

# Lucknow: 39 people died & 53 have been injured due to the storm. We have been ordered to give compensation in next 24 hours to all of them: Sanjay Kumar, Relief Commissioner 

# Death toll in Uttar Pradesh due to Sunday's thunderstorm has increased to 38. 

# Patna: Radar/satellite observation indicates that thunderstorm, hailstorm, lightning accompanied with light to moderate rain with wind speed 40-50 k per hour is likely to affect some parts of the district of Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Purnia between 0230  Hrs IST  to 0530 Hrs IST

# According to the weather department, Delhi will witness partly cloudy sky, with possibility of light rains towards afternoon or evening.  

# Kolkata: Latest satellite / radar observations indicate that thunderstorm accompanied with gusty  wind speed reaching exceeding 40 kmph along with lightning and light to moderate rain likely affect some parts of Darjelling, Jalpaiguri, Aliporedur, Kalingpong, Coochbehar, North & South Dinajpur and Malda  districts of West Bengal  during  next 2-3 hours from 07:15 Hrs IST of today

# Uttar Pradesh bore the brunt of a thunderstorm and hail that left at least 23 people dead, including five deaths in Kasganj, two each in Ghaziabad and Saharanpur, and one each in Etawah, Sambhal, Hapur, Kannauj, Aligarh and Gautam Buddha Nagar. 

# According to the India Meteorological Department, thunderstorms also occurred at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Maharashtara, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu on Sunday. 

# In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "Saddened by the loss of lives due to storms in some parts of the country. Condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured." 

# Condoling the deaths, Congress President Rahul Gandhi in a tweet asked party workers to provide all assistance to the bereaved families. 

# The devastation comes over 10 days after storms hit UP, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Punjab, killing 134 people and injuring over 400. UP was the worst affected, accounting for 80 deaths, most of them in Agra district in the western part of the state.

Subsequently on May 9, several parts of Uttar Pradesh were struck by a severe storm that left 18 dead and 27 others injured. 

# A squall and dust storm with a wind speed of up to 109 kmph battered Delhi and neighbouring areas yesterday, killing two persons and injuring 18 others, and throwing flight, rail and metro operations out of gear. 

# The thunderstorm came when the temperature at the national capital had touched 40.60 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal. Humidity during the morning hours was recorded at 60 per cent, a MeT official said.

# The officials said two squalls whipped through the national capital. One clocking 109 kmph hit the Safdarjung area at 4:44 pm and continued till 4:46 pm. The other gusting to 96 kmph battered the Palam area at 4:33 pm. 

# The strong winds knocked down nearly 200 trees in the city. Incidents of wall collapse were reported from Najafgarh, Transit Camp, Nehru Place, Mohan Garden in Uttam Nagar and Raj Nagar in Palam, said a senior officer of the Delhi Fire Service. 

# Flight operations to and from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport were majorly hit as the dust storm hit the city in the evening, with over 70 diversions and more than two dozen delays. The operations of almost all the airlines -- domestic and international -- were affected as the runway had to be closed down and the flight services suspended for a while. The airlines informed the passengers about the delays and diversions on Twitter.

# Dozens of flights were diverted to cities such as Jaipur, Amritsar and Lucknow, the sources said. Vistara said its Delhi-bound flights from Srinagar, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Goa were diverted. International flights from Katmandu, Riyadh, Colombo, Jeddah, Kabul were delayed even as flights from Tokyo, Newark and Colombo were diverted to other places.

# Delhi Metro services were affected at several stations on the Violet and Blue lines after trees fell on overhead electricity (OHE) wires due to the squall and sudden dust storm with a wind speed of up to 109 kmph that whipped the national capital this evening. According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), services on the Violet Line were affected for 40 minutes as trains ran in two loops between Sarita Vihar and Escorts Mujesar, and between Nehru Place and Kashmere Gate stations from 5 pm to 5:40 pm. 

# Similarly, train services on the Blue line between Noida Sector 16 to Noida City Centre were not available since 5:15 pm due to damage to OHE wire on down section of the Blue line (towards Noida). Services were restored at 6:50 pm, it said. 

# The DMRC also said service between Inderprashtha and Karol Bagh (on the Blue line) were not available from 5.15 pm due to a tree falling on the overhead electricity (OHE) wires of the up section of the line (towards Dwarka) between Rajiv Chowk and RK Ashram.