Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Apr 28: The city woke up to the booming sounds of thunder and flashes of lightning coupled with rain on Monday April 28.
Though the rain, which was moderate, stopped soon, the weather continued to be cloudy well into the morning.
A large number of places in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts received good rainfall on the night of Saturday April 26 and again on Sunday. However, the city and surrounding places had to be content with moderate rainfall for about half an hour during the early hours on Sunday, followed by cloudy weather and faint drizzle, although lightning and thunder were experienced in abundance.
Lightning on Saturday and Sunday left one person dead, some injured, apart from resulting in heavy losses. Guruva Mogera (43), a coolie living in Kochakatte in Perabe village near Moodbidri died of lightning when working in his field on Saturday evening. A number of houses were damaged due to lightning in Udupi, Karkala and Bantwal taluks. Power supply went off, and electronic equipments of a large number of houses were damaged in Karkala taluk. After lightning struck a house at Neralakatte in Netlamudoor, Vittal, Shobha, wife of Damodar Acharya from Karagoppa was injured. Her ears stopped functioning due to lightning. Electrical wiring of the house, electronic things including television set, among others, were burnt down, and all the walls of her home developed cracks.
Lightning which struck a coconut tree in the courtyard of Kombila Darnappa Poojary in Anantady village in Bantwal taluk left the electric wiring of the house thoroughly damaged. Walls and flooring of the house suffered wide cracks. Lavanya (19), daughter of the late Raghunath Shetty in Vittamudnoor village suffered injuries to her leg due to lightning. People from various rural areas complained of snapped telephone connections.
The meteorological department has predicted rain to continue in some places of Karnataka coast and several places located in interior Karnataka.