Hailstorm, rains lash Ooty; lightning strikes giant tree

: Hailstorm and rains lashed this tourist town today, accompanied by thunder and lightning, which partially burnt a 300-foot tall eucalyptus tree in Government Botanical Gardens.
The area has been without rains for the last three months. Tourists in the gardens were seen collecting the ice cubes and enjoying the rain.
Some staff of the gardens and horticulture department, living in nearly 60 houses around the tree rushed out, fearing the tree may fall on their homes, sources said.