13 killed as heavy rains batter Hyderabad, areas submerged
Hyderabad: Several residential areas in Hyderabad and suburbs remained inundated on Wednesday as unprecedented rainfall has left at least 13 people dead.
Hyderabad has been lashed by rains since Tuesday evening.
The rains abated early Wednesday, but dozens of colonies both in the city and suburbs remained under water while water logging and fallen trees affected the vehicular traffic within the city and also on the national highways to Vijayawada and Bengaluru.
The heavy rains under the impact of deep depression wrecked havoc in the Telangana capital as overflowing lakes and open nalas flooded roads and colonies.
The highest rainfall in over a century paralysed the city and outskirts, plunging hundreds of colonies into darkness.
People in flooded areas spent a sleepless night. With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting more rains, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Lokesh Kumar has appealed to people to stay indoors.
Disaster Response Force (DRF) with the help of fire services personnel and police were attending to distress calls from people stranded in flood water.
Police said dozens of people were rescued from vehicles caught in flood waters at various places.
Nine people were killed and three injured when a wall collapsed and fell on two houses in Bandlaguda in the old city of Hyderabad.
Two persons drowned and two others went missing in the Gaganpahad area in Shamshabad on the outskirts. Two more persons were feared killed in Abdullahpur, also on the outskirts.
The DRF teams deployed boats to rescue people caught in flood waters in the Nadeem Colony in Toli Chowki area in the city. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who visited the colony late last night, said 600 people were evacuated from 170 houses and shifted to relief camps.
Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway after a stretch of the highway came under flood water.
The movement of traffic was also hit on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway. People were also facing problems in reaching Hyderabad Airport at Shamshabad. Cyberabad police have appealed to those going to the airport to use Outer Ring Road.
Colonies in areas like Khairatabad, Chintal Basti, Gandhi Nagar, Maruti Nagar, Srinagar and Anand Bagh in the heart of the city were also inundated.
Several parts of the city remained without power for more than 12 hours.
According to the weather office, Ghatkesar on the city outskirts received record rainfall of 32.20 cm. Hayathnagar and Hastinapuram recorded 29.45 and 28.30 cm rainfall respectively.
