Twelve people were killed in lightning strikes in three districts of Bihar on Sunday, disaster management officials said.
Nine persons were killed in Saran district while two died in Jamui and one in Bhojpur, they said.
Eight people were also injured in Saran district and they are being treated at Chhapra Sadar Hospital, Superintendent of Police Hari Kishore Rai said.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condoled the deaths and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of the deceased, an official release said.
The eastern Pacific Ocean made history on Saturday with the formation of Tropical Depression One-E, the earliest tropical system ever recorded in the ocean basin. The premature depression developed about 900 miles off the southwestern coast of Mexico. The depression will remain far out to sea and should dissipate by Monday without affecting land.
Tropical Depression One-E formed three weeks before the official May 15 start of the eastern Pacific hurricane season. No storm on record has formed this early in the year in the basin, with reliable records here stretching back to the beginning of the satellite era in 1966, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters expect the tropical depression to maintain its strength before dissipating in the next day or two; however, if it does manage to strengthen into a tropical storm, its name will be Amanda.
Two farmers were killed after being struck by a lightning strike in Charbhadrasan upazila here on Friday.
The deceased were identified as Joynal Mollah, 39, son of Khaleque Mollah of Ramnagar village in Sadarpur Upazila, and Hashem Mollah, 61, son of late Tanu Mollah of Charbhadrasan.
Charbhadrasan Upazila Nirbahi Officer Jesmin Sultana said the two farmers lost their lives while grazing cattle in Mathavanga area of Charbhadrasan Sadar Union around 2pm.
"I've visited the spot immediately and handed over Tk 20,000 to each of the bereaved families as financial assistance," she added.
At least six persons were killed on Friday in separate lightning strikes in the state. The deaths were reported from Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Balasore districts. Bhubaneswar along with other places of the state received heavy rainfall on the day.
Three youths from Badapathara village under Khunta police station in Mayurbhanj district were killed in lightning strikes. The trio identified as Jaminikanta Mahanta, 22, Dibyashankara Mahanta, 26, and Koushish Mahanta, 19, had gone for fishing to a pond near their village at around 11am.
Fire services personnel reached the spot and admitted the youths to Khunta community health centre where the doctor declared them 'brought dead'.
Alex Linder Shanghaiist Tue, 21 Apr 2020 05:44 UTC
Spring has brought a blizzard to the door of many in northern China, trapping them inside.
The snowstorm over the last couple of days has covered large swathes of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia with localities raising red alerts for snowfall.
Some residents of Qiqihar in Heilongjiang province say that they haven't seen so much snow in 20 or 30 years.
Footage from up north shows snow burying cars and blocking the doors of some houses, forcing people to climb out windows to escape.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority had warned of a "peak of unstable weather" during the first day of Ramadan, which falls on Friday.
Khaled Zahran, head of the Red Sea Ports Authority, ordered the closure of Port Tawfik, El-Zeiteya, and Ataka due to wind speeds of 40 knots and wave heights of 4 metres, in order to protect life and property.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone's Sokhna and Adabiya ports were also closed to commercial vessel traffic.
The Friday sandstorm turned skies yellow across Cairo and in other areas, greatly reducing visibility.
A total of 4,200 people of three districts of Tripura were rendered homeless while over 5,500 houses were damaged or destroyed by hailstorm that lashed the state on Tuesday, an official report said here.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb along with officials visited the worst-hit Sepahajala district on Thursday. The other two affected districts are West Tripura and Khowai.
"At least 5,000 houses have been affected and over 4,200 people taken shelter in relief camps following a hailstorm that hit three districts -- Sepahijala, West Tripura and Khowai districts," the report released from the Chief Ministers Office said.
Over 23,500 small and marginal farmers in the fruit belt of Shimla, Mandi, and Kullu have lost around 13,908 metric tonnes (MT) of crop, mainly apple worth Rs 27.23 crore grown in 11,218 hectares, due to recent hailstorms, reveals a loss assessment report of the state Horticulture Department.
Farmers, however, say that damage caused by hailstones and heavy rainfall to "standing and blooming apple orchards" is much higher and the department is yet to assess this loss.
According to the report, a copy of which is with The Tribune, hailstones, rain and gusty winds have severely destroyed over 13,908 metric tonnes of "full fruit crops" of over 23,500 small, marginal and other farmers (10,718 in Shimla, 7,262 in Mandi, 5,520 in Kullu; three main fruit producing districts).
Hailstones, rain and windstorms destroyed the fruit crop in 6,817 hectares in Shimla, 2,549 hectares in Mandi and 1,852 hectares in Kullu district early this week, the report states.
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