Bhubaneswar: Three people were killed after norwester wreaked havoc at different places of the state on Friday night. While two motorcyclists died in Mayurbhanj district, one person was killed in Puri district.One Nabadas Hansdah, who was riding motorcycle on Friday evening, died after a tree fell on him near Asanjoda on the Kuliana road in Mayurbhanj district. Another rider, Naveen Murmu, died when his motorcycle hit an uprooted tree on the road at Khunta on the Baripada-Udala road in the same district.In Puri district, an elderly person Jagannath Behera of Alisa village under Pipili police station near Bhubaneswar died after a coconut tree fell on him due to the norwester.The incident happened while Behera was consuming prasad near the Shiv temple of the village on Friday night. He died on the spot, said his family members.Fire services staff got the information about the incident at around 11.30pm on Friday and reached the village along with local police. They rescued the elderly person by cutting the coconut tree. But Behera was dead by then. Local MLA Ashrit Pattanayak visited the village and met Behera’s family members.Apart from Mayurbhanj and Puri districts, effect of norwester was felt in Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts too. Heavy rain, lightning and thunderstorm damaged houses, boundary walls and trees in these districts.According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bhubaneswar, light to moderate rainfall took place at many places over Odisha. Squall occurred at Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda with maximum speed of about 56 kmph and 83 kmph respectively on Friday.Some places in the districts of Kandhamal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Koraput and Mayurbhanj got heavy rainfall on Friday night and Saturday morning, said official sources.“Thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and gusty surface wind (wind speed reaching upto 40-50 kmph) is very likely to occur at isolated places over the districts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada from Sunday morning to Monday morning. Districts like Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Koraput and Malkangiri will receive gusty surface wind speed reaching up to 30-40 kmph,” said the IMD bulletin issued on Saturday.
