Hudhud bounty & bane - More showers today, monsoon farewell after 48 hours

TT, Jamshedpur, Oct. 13: Nature has kept its promise.Jharkhand, which shares borders with Bengal and Odisha and was expected to receive Hudhud bounty, drenched in heavy to very heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours after the tropical cyclone made landfall in Andhra Pradesh yesterday and moved north-westwards.

The next 24 hours will be wet too, say weathermen.

Downpour started in most parts of the state, including Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Hazaribagh, late last evening and continued till this morning. As the wind speed ranged between 10kmph and 40kmph, reports of thatched and mud houses being damaged and trees being uprooted poured in from many places like Chouparan in Hazaribagh and Chaibasa in West Singhbhum.

Jamshedpur, as predicted, bore the maximum brunt of the cyclone and topped the rain--meter with 148.6mm. Hazaribagh followed with 110.4mm while Ramgarh and Ghatshila (East Singhbhum) recorded over 90mm.

The impact of the very severe cyclonic storm was also felt in landlocked capital Ranchi, where the IMD observatory registered a heavy rainfall of 80mm.

Chandil in Seraikela-Kharsawan district experienced incessant rain for more than eight hours at a stretch since 9 ’clock last night. It recorded 78.5mm. Several trees were uprooted as strong winds swept the area.

Sarath in Deoghar experienced sharp showers and amassed 41mm rainfall while Tenughat in Bokaro, Raidih in Gumla, Hindgir in Ranchi and Pakur recorded 40mm.

At least 15 Met stations, including those in Chakradharpur (West Singhbhum) and Simdega recorded over 20mm rain since last night.

“The impact of the cyclone was more in southern Jharkhand. It resulted in heavy to very heavy rainfall at various isolated places with moderate showers in most places,” said R.K. Giri, the acting director of Patna Meteorological Centre.

Director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre B.K. Mandal said the cyclone had moved anticlockwise and was gradually becoming weak. “Hudhud, which has turned into a deep depression, lay centred 50km south of Raipur in Chhattisgarh at 11.30am today. It will move northwards for the next 12 hours and then north-northeastwards, gradually becoming weak and turning into a low-pressure area,” he said.

The IMD offices in Patna and Ranchi, in their 24-hour forecast, have warned of rain and thundershowers at many places. Heavy rainfall alert has been issued for isolated pockets.

The Regional Meteorological Centre in Calcutta said the cyclone had left behind heavy moisture in the atmosphere, which would take a couple of days to dissipate.

“The air is moisture-laden and this will result in rainfall activity for another 24 hours or so,” a duty officer said, adding that withdrawal of monsoon from Jharkhand was expected to start after the next two days.