GUWAHATI: Over 400 families in Goalpara and Kamrup districts have been affected by back-to-back thunderstorms since Friday, as residents of villages in the Assam-Meghalaya border continue to bear the brunt of inclement weather.
In just about a week after a thunderstorm lashed parts of Goalpara, another severe cyclonic storm has been wreaking havoc in the western Assam district since Friday night.
Several trees and electric poles have been uprooted, roofs of houses blown away and government buildings, including a police station and the CRPF headquarters, partially damaged by the storm.
Official sources confirmed that close to 400 families in Goalpara district alone have been affected by the storm over the past two days. No casualties have been reported so far.
Khara Medhipara village under Dudhnoi revenue circle and Goalpara town, bore the brunt of Friday night’s storm, while Petkata near Krishnai, the weekly market at Dhupdhara, and several hamlets in Dhupdhara, Simlitola and Agia were affected by the storm on Saturday evening.
Several hundred families in Kamrup district were also affected, reports say, even as the official figure could not be confirmed.
Meanwhile, in a freak mishap, passengers of Force Traveller bus, coming from Dhupdhara towards Nagarbera in Kamrup district had a miraculous escape after a tree uprooted by the storm on Saturday fell on the moving vehicle.
Traffic on national highways in Kamrup and Goalpara districts was disrupted on Saturday evening after the wreckage comprising uprooted trees and branches blocked portions of the road.
“The thunderstorm occurred around 7.45pm last evening and lasted for around one hour. People had to take shelter under beds during that period. Two rooms of the Sakhati Bishnu Rabha Lower Primary School under Boko LAC have been totally damaged,” Panchami Rabha, general member of Rabha Hasong Autonmous Council, and a resident of Sakhati, said.
The inclement weather, going by the forecast, is likely to continue over next week as well.
The Meteorological department on Sunday warned of thunderstorms with gusty wind (speed ranging from 30 to 50km per hour) and lightning over isolated places over Northeast, including Assam and Meghalaya, in the next five days.