Devastating storm rips through Nainital

A devastating storm ripped through Nainital and adjoining areas on Saturday uprooting trees and causing a major power breakdown in the tourist town. The storm, lasting an hour, uprooted at least 50 oak, pine, surai and poplar trees, Nagar Palika ranger Pramod Tiwari said. No casualties were reported.

Fifteen trees were uprooted in the Mall Road area, he said. The storm caused a major power failure in the town as the trees fell on electricity supply lines, Tiwari said, adding the supply could not be restored before tomorrow.

Vehicles also moved at a snail's pace as trees fell in their way. Such devastation by a storm has been caused after many decades in Nainital, Tiwari said.

Uprooting of oak trees which are very deeply rooted shows the intensity of the storm, Tiwari added. When contacted, MeT Director (Dehradun) Bikram Singh said the windspeed of the storm should not have been less than 80 kmph.

Predicting similar weather in the region tomorrow and the day after, he asked people to remain alert.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)