Heavy Rains, Flash Floods Claim 10 Lives In Telangana's Northern Districts

For Friday, the IMD said moderate to heavy rain or thundershowers were very likely to occur at most places over the state.

Ten persons were washed away in separate incidents in Telangana as unprecedented heavy rains and flash floods wreaked havoc in Telangana's northern districts, submerging over 100 villages. Lakes, tanks, streams, and canals overflowed due to the relentless rainfall in Mulugu and Jayashankar Bhupalapally districts, leading to breaches that submerged villages and disrupted transportation.

In Mulugu district, three members of a family, including two women, were washed away when water from a breached tank inundated Burugupeta village in Venkatapuram mandal. The body of Saraiah (60) has been recovered, but two others are still missing, and search efforts are ongoing.

Two brothers died while trying to cross a flooded stream in Mahbubabad district. While two persons were washed away with a car in a stream in Hanamkonda district. The incident occurred near Nagaram in Parkala mandal. At Kannaram village in the same district, a youth on a motorbike was washed away while crossing a swollen stream.

In Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, a person lost his life due to a fallen tree in Ravulapalli village. In another incident in Sangareddy district, a man was washed away in a lake. Villagers retrieved his body.

Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari reported that 10,696 individuals from 108 villages were relocated to safer areas. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and police, together with two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters, carried out rescue operations. While 600 people from Morampalli village and 19 stranded workers were rescued, efforts were ongoing to save others stranded in different locations, including Munneru river in Khammam.

Massive rainfall was recorded in undivided Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, and Khammam districts, with electricity supply disrupted to several villages. Laxmidevipeta in Mulugu district set a record for the highest-ever rainfall in the state, experiencing 64.98 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.

Even as the state government stepped up efforts for rescue and rehabilitation of affected people in various districts, the Indian Meteorological Department in its forecast for Friday indicated a possible easing of the situation across the state.

For Friday, the IMD said moderate to heavy rain or thundershowers were very likely to occur at most places over the state. And it also stepped down its warning from red to yellow for Friday for the state but also warned that thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning and wind gusts of up to 40 km per hour were likely to occur over the state.