An uprooted tree at Haflong on Sunday.
April 25: At least six persons have died and many others injured in the thunderstorm that hit lower and central Assam last night.
In Guwahati and its suburbs, the thunderstorm blowing at a speed of 104km per hour claimed two lives and partially damaged around 2,000 houses.
Rumi Begum, 28, who was seven-months pregnant, died when an auto-van parked on the roadside, swept away by the wind, fell on her at Dakhingaon
area of the city last night. Police also confirmed this evening that a 55-year-old woman, identified as Anowara Begum, died when a tree fell on her at Amtala area in Sonapur on the city outskirts last night.

In the city, around 20 people sustained minor injuries with trees falling on moving vehicles and panic-stricken pedestrians caught unawares by the storm.

Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner Prateek Hajela said one person has died and around 2,000 houses, mostly thatched, were partially damaged. He, however, said nobody has been rendered homeless.

Almost the entire city plunged into darkness with power supply getting badly hit as trees fell on electric wires and electric poles were uprooted.

The deputy commissioner said power supply has been restored in 70 per cent areas by this evening and rest would be done by tonight.

Trees uprooted in the storm caused severe traffic snarl at many city roads last night. However, all the roads were clearly by this morning.

In Nagaon, three persons, Sandhya Bordoloi, 12, Saleha Khatun, 40, and Muslima Begum, 7, died at Kampur area when their houses collapsed under the impact of the squall.

One person died and 22 others were injured in the thunderstorm in Dhubri district. Sources said Kaiser Ali, 28, died at Paglahat under Tamarhat police station area.

Extensive damage to property and loss of livestock has been reported from areas like Bilasipara, Halakura, Agomoni and Golokganj in Dhubri.

The Dhubri town and suburban areas plunged into darkness as two 33KV transformers at Madhusoulmari and Dumordoh areas were completely damaged by the storm. Sources said it would take around five days to restore power supply.

Surgeries were carried out at the hospitals with generator sets.

Dhubri deputy commissioner Jatindra Lahkar said his officers were on the field assessing the damage and the exact extent of the damage would be known by tomorrow.

Though there has been no report of any casualty in Goalpara, more than 80 houses and hundreds of trees were uprooted in the district.

Similarly, in Darrang district more than 1,000 houses were damaged and two were injured.

Rain and storm disrupted normal life in Dima Hasao, formerly known as North Cachar Hills, district too. The road communication between district headquarters Haflong and Silchar was disrupted because of landslide. Efforts are on to clear the road.

Damage was also caused on the railway tracks at Jatinga, Harangajao and Dibarai areas in the district.

According to a source, damage on the track is partial and train service is continuing.

“Continuous rain is posing problems in restoring the Haflong-Silchar road. It may take a few days time to revive the road link,” the source said.

In Nagaon, more than 2,000 trees were uprooted by the storm.

“Major damage is reported in Kholahat reserve forest in Dharamtul range where around 700 trees were uprooted,” said Nagaon divisional forest officer Aftabuddin Ahmed.