Squall wreaks havoc in city; 12 hurt, several houses damaged

By By Our Reporter On Apr 6, 2016

Met office forecasts more thunder squalls in the next two days

SHILLONG: At least 12 people, including children, were injured and several families affected when a thunder squall hit capital city on Tuesday.
High velocity winds, accompanied by rain and lightning blew away rooftops of several houses and uprooted trees, and telephone and electric poles in Nongmynsong, Umpling, Pynthorbah and Nongpathaw area.
The thunder squall, which led to a large scale of damages to property, took people by surprise as there was no prior warning from any quarters including Met office.
The Meghalaya Electricity Corporation (MeECL) has to snap power supplies following the cyclonic storm.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner PS Dkhar informed that 87 families were affected in Nongmynsong and Demseniong alone as strong wind blew the roof tops of several houses.
In Umpling, 51 families were also affected and three people sustained minor injuries .
Moreover, 13 houses were also damaged in Nongpathaw village at Sohiong.
Most of injured people were released after administering first aid.
The district administration is providing tarpaulins and other necessary items to the affected families and the actual assessment of damage will be done on Wednesday, an official source said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, all the line departments like PWD, MeECL, Civil Defence and Home, Guards, Forest and Fire and emergency services have been alerted in view of the thunder squall.
Four injured persons have been identified as Narking Lyngdoh Nongbri (29) of Pynthorbah Block-I Pushpa Kumari (10) of Pynthorbah Block-I, Nisita Gurung (64) of Umpling Lumdiengmet and Rahul Gurung (25) of Umpling Lumdiengmet, Shillong
As per the regional weather forecast by the regional meteorological centre , Guwahati issued on Tuesday said that thunder squall with wind speed reaching 60 kmph was likely to occur at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya on April 5 and 6. Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh on April 6 and 7 over Assam & Meghalaya on April 5, 6 and 7 and over Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura on April 6.