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Cyclone Sitrang: Houses damaged, trees uprooted in northeast
Most states in the region have been reporting heavy to very heavy rainfall since Monday and the IMD had issued a red alert for Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura for Tuesday.
Cyclonic storm Sitrang, which brought heavy rainfall to parts of northeast India, weakened to a depression in the early hours of Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Most states in the region have been reporting heavy to very heavy rainfall since Monday and the IMD had issued a red alert for Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura for Tuesday.
“Sitrang weakened into a depression at 5:30 am on Tuesday and further weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area and lay centred over northeast Bangladesh and adjoining Meghalaya at 8:30 am,” a release issued by IMD’s Guwahati office stated.
“It is very likely to move north-northeastwards and weaken into a low-pressure area... under its influence, fairly widespread rainfall accompanied with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely to continue over the northeastern states for next 24 hours,” it added.
The department issued a wind warning predicting speeds of 25-35 kmph and gusting to 45 kmph over Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura over the next 12 hours.
The department also predicted light to moderate rainfall in all seven states in the region on Wednesday and Thursday followed by dry weather in the next couple of days.
In Manipur, two women were swept away while crossing a stream in Ukhrul district on Monday.
The incident took place at Tholiru stream near Challou river at Poi village under Chingai assembly constituency when the women were returning home from their paddy fields around 4.50pm on Monday.
The two missing women have been identified as RS Ngamreila (30) wife of RS Varechung and RK Ramreila (34) RK Mathotmi of Poi village.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has sent a state police team along with a team of state disaster response force to continue the search and rescue operations. Biren Singh also spoke to the villagers on phone and asked them to update the development.
The state has been witnessing light to moderate rainfall at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall following the build up of Sitrang.
The continuous downpour in the last two days here dampened not only the Diwali festivities in the state on Tuesday but also affected activities for upcoming-Ningol Chakkouba, the state’s biggest festival — celebrated on October 27.
One person was injured while 509 houses in different parts of Tripura were damaged due in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday evening, according to reports available from state emergency operation centre.
In South Tripura district, 3,700 people were affected as 24 villages and 781 hectares of cropped area were damaged in the cyclone.
In Mizoram, all schools in Aizawl and Lunglei districts remained shut on Tuesday. Earlier, all district administrations in the state had issued advisories, asking people not to venture out to rivers on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as heavy rain could trigger a flash flood.
