Hailstorm, rains lash parts of Himachal; crops destroyed

Hailstorm followed by intermittent rains disrupted the normal life in Shimla today along with some other parts of the state.
The storm flattened standing wheat crop in mid and lower hills and caused extensive damage to stone fruit and vegetable crops.
The local MeT office has predicted more rains, snow and thunderstorm over the next three days.
Normal life was thrown out of gear and power supply was disrupted in Shimla and Ropa valley as a severe storm hit the region.
A huge tree was uprooted in Bemloearea in the heart of the town, snapping power transmission lines and power supply remained affected for several hours.

A line man Om Prakash received serious injuries while rectifying the fault and was taken to hospital with serious burn injuries, an official said.

A severe storm blew off the roof of at Primary school building at Sunnam in Ropa valley in tribal Kinnaur district.
However, there was no loss of life as the incident took place at midnight and there were no students in the school.
The reports of heavy rains and storm have also been received from some other parts of the state.
Maximum temperatures dropped by three to five degrees and Unain lower hills recorded a high of 33.4 degree against 38 degree yesterday, followed by Sundernagar 28.9 degree, Nahan 28.3 degree, Solan 25.0 degree, Dharamshala 24.8 degree, Bhuntar 23.6 degree, Shimla 21.1 degree and Manali17.6 degree C.

The minimum temperatures also dropped by two to three degrees and Keylong recorded a low of 0.4 degree, while and Manali recorded minimum temperature at 3.4 degree, filed by Shimla 9.4 degree, Bhuntar 11.0 degree, Palampur and Solan 13.0 degree, Sundernagar 13. 7 degree, Dharamsala 14.4 degree, Una 19.0 degree and Nahan 20.5 degree.