Hyderabad: Heavy winds, thunderstorms hit city; 2 die in treefall at Keesara

Hyderabad: After severe scorching heat, the city on Sunday experienced heavy winds and thunderstorms, accompanied by light to moderate rainfall. Following the heavy winds, two persons were killed when a tree fell on them at Keesara, on the city outskirts.

The victims were Nagireddy Ram Reddy, a farmer, and his friend Dharma Reddy, who were going on a bike from Thimmaipally to Shameerpet. According to the police, when they reached Venugopal Swamy Road, a big tree, due to heavy gales, was uprooted and fell on them. Both were crushed under the tree and sustained injuries. Ram Reddy died on the spot.

The injured Dharma Reddy was shifted to a private hospital at ECIL for treatment, where he died later. The police registered a case and informed the victims’ families. They shifted the bodies to the Gandhi Hospital mortuary for a postmortem.

On Sunday, most city areas experienced temperatures ranging from 40 to 42 degrees C, with Uppal recording the highest at 42.7 degrees C.

In the evening, there were approximately 30 minutes of powerful winds and rainfall across many areas. Rapidly moving but severe thunderstorms with intense rain were witnessed in Uppal, LB Nagar, Dilsukhnagar, Secunderabad, Vanasthalipuram, OU, Himayatnagar, Saroornagar, Amberpet, Kacheguda, Malkajgiri, Shaikpet, Kondapur, Miyapur, Gachibowli, and other areas.

In the Hayathnagar area, due to strong winds, sheets and huts were blown away. Trees were also uprooted. In Vanasthalipuram, huge trees were uprooted near Rythu Bazar, on the main road of the NGOs Colony, on the premises of the Ganesh temple. Following the incident, there was chaos in the area, and traffic was jammed. The alerted GHMC DRF removed the trees and cleared the traffic.

The DRF teams received 53 emergency complaints, including 48 about tree uprooting. The IMD has advised people to stay alert and avoid taking shelter under trees, as it may be dangerous.

The authorities have issued helpline numbers 040-21111111 and 9000113667 for GHMC-DRF assistance.

For Monday, the forecast said partly cloudy skies with similar wind patterns but no significant weather impacts.

The IMD Hyderabad has announced that dry weather is expected to prevail across Telangana for the next

five days.