A violent Kalbaisakhi (Nor'wester) storm tore through Odisha on Wednesday afternoon, leaving a trail of destruction across Ganjam, Bhadrak, and Jajpur. Between 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM, heavy rain, lightning, and hailstorms disrupted normal life, uprooting trees and snapping power lines.
Miraculous Escapes:
Ganjam: A massive tree limb crushed an OSRTC bus near Digpahandi, but all 40 passengers were safely rescued.
Patrapur: Lightning struck a tree at Narayanpur Primary School, sparking a fire. Fortunately, the subsequent downpour extinguished the flames, sparing 45 terrified students.
Widespread Damage:
In Bhadrak’s Bant block, fierce winds flattened summer crops and blew away asbestos roofs. Meanwhile, in Jajpur, the Yayati Festival and Subhadra Shakti Mela grounds were decimated, with tents and stalls scattered by the gale.
Reduced visibility from dust storms brought traffic to a standstill, leaving several regions in darkness as the electrical grid collapsed under the weight of fallen debris.