Weather News Updates: Heavy Rainfall Alert in Kerala, Parts of K’taka; Schools, Colleges, Non-essential Offices Closed in Assam’s Cachar

Weather News Updates: The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Wednesday with the number of affected increasing to 6.62 lakh in 27 districts and the toll rising to nine with one more person losing his life in Darrang district, an official bulletin said. Assam State Disaster Management Authority said that at present 1413 villages are under water and Nagaon is the worst hit district where 2.88 lakh people are reeling under the calamity. In Cachar nearly 1.2 lakh people and in Hojai more than 1.07 lakh people were affected, it said.

Meanwhile, Odisha is set to come under the grip of a heatwave from next week. The state is likely to witness rain accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds for the next three days due to strong southwesterly winds from the Bay of Bengal and an east-west trough. After this, the temperature will rise from the next week, the weatherman said.

Maximum temperatures across Rajasthan are likely to rise by two to three notches over the next two days, a meteorological department official said here on Wednesday. He said heatwave conditions would prevail for the next three days in Jodhpur and Bikaner divisions where the maximum temperatures are likely to remain above 45 degrees Celsius.

Here are the latest weather updates:

• Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, along with his cabinet ministers and senior officials, visit flood-hit areas in Bengaluru following heavy rainfall here.

• In view of the flood situation, the Cachar district administration has closed all educational institutions (government and private) and non-essential private establishments for 48 hours (May 19th and 20th) in the district.

• Karnataka:  Hubballi city receives light showers.

• Maharashtra: Heatwave and pre-monsoon showers are likely to hit different parts of Maharashtra starting Wednesday, the IMD said. Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds at isolated places are very likely in south Madhya Maharashtra, south Konkan and some districts of Marathwada. While the next heatwave is likely in the north Madhya Maharashtra and Vidarbha districts from May 17 to 21, the IMD forecast said.

• The flood situation in Kampur area under Raha Assembly constituency in Assam’s Nagaon district remains grim as thousands are affected. “Situation is terrible. Our constituency is low-land. All the harvest has gone & people don’t have a place to live. Water levels rose so much that we can’t go there; routes closed. Our party workers are working with NDRF for relief to locals,” Congress MLA Sashi Kanta Das told news agency ANI.

• Kerala rains: The orange alert in Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram issued on Wednesday morning continues to be in effect. An orange alert was also issued by IMD in Kannur and Kasaragod for Thursday, May 19.

• The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority on Wednesday predicted widespread rain in the state for the next 5 days with chances of isolated thunder, lightning and strong winds due to the cyclonic circulation in and around Kerala as well as a low pressure trough from north Kerala to Vidarbha region.

• After a slight respite from the scorching heat in Delhi earlier in the week, the temperature is set to rise again from Thursday, the IMD said.

• L Darlong, the principal secretary in Tripura transport department said the state’s stock of petrol will only last for eight days and diesel for five, which is a matter of concern.

• Tripura, which is facing depleting stocks as railway services to the state has been snapped due to the devastating flood in Assam, may transport essential commodities through Bangladesh’s Chittagong.

• Kopili river is flowing above the danger marks at Dharamtul and Kampur, and Disang at Nanglamuraghat, the bulletin stated. In view of the damages to railway tracks in multiple locations, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has already suspended all trains through Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section to Barak Valley, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur, and restoration work is on in the damaged areas.

• A total of 3,07,849 domestic animals and poultry have been affected in the deluge across 13 districts in Assam.

• The Army, paramilitary force, NDRF, SDRF, civil administration, trained volunteers, fire and emergency services and local people have evacuated 8,066 persons from various flood-hit parts of the state by deploying boats and helicopters.

• Embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructure have been damaged by flood waters in Biswanath, Barpeta, Goalpara, Nagaon, Nalbari, Tamulpur, Bajali, Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Dibrugarh and Kamrup, ASDMA said.

• Fresh landslides have taken place in Hailakandi and the devastated Dima Hasao district, where the local administration has set up many relief camps for the affected people, a bulletin by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority said.

Read all the Latest India News here