Untimely storm coupled with hail, wreaks havoc in Cachar's South Dholai; Roofs blown away, vehicle toppled

Several villages of Channighat, Sheorarthal, Jamalpur, and Rajnagar Gram Panchayats of South Dholai in Cachar district were ravaged by an untimely storm of ‘Chaitra’ (Bengali Month) on Sunday afternoon. The tin roofs of countless houses were blown off. In many places, trees have fallen on power transmission lines, roads as well as houses. Power transmission lines have been uprooted along with the poles. Heavy hail storm resulted in a layer of ice more than a foot thick in many places.

Everything got shattered in just ten minutes of the untimely storm. Several people were injured after trees and houses collapsed. Some livestock are also reported to have died. Crops have suffered a lot damage. A container car parked on the road between Channighat and Lailapur overturned on the road in the heavy storm.

“I was at my hardware store and could see the dark clouds. But we thought this is just another storm approaching us. However, within the span of 30 seconds, it had it us so hard that my alabaster sheet ceiling dropped down. Cement bags kept at the warehouse became roofless and therefore drenched. Overall, I incurred a loss of more than Rs 5 lakh,” said a local proprietor.

Many other shared their reaction with Barak Bulletin. One man said in his whole life time, he did not witness a storm of such magnitude. “Such big hails and for so long is not usual,” he added.

The time on the clock was 12:30 in the afternoon, the sky suddenly became dark and got covered with clouds. Within a moment, a storm came from the south-west accompanied by hail. Due to this, several villages in South Dholai have been damaged. Many estimate that the amount of damage will be several crores of rupees.