Sunday, at least 20 residents killed as lightning struck different parts of Andhra Pradesh.
- 13 others were injured in various incidents in four districts.
- Heavy rains lashed the state under the impact of low pressure area.
- The incidents occurred in Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari, Prakasam and Nellore districts.
Six residents killed as lightning struck in Prakasam district, five in Nellore district, five in Krishna district, two each in Guntur and East Godavari districts.
Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge during an electrical storm between electrically charged regions of a cloud, between that cloud and another cloud , or between a cloud and the ground. The charged regions in the atmosphere temporarily equalize themselves through this discharge referred to as a strike if it hits an object on the ground. Although lightning is always accompanied by the sound of thunder, distant lightning may be seen but be too far away for the thunder to be heard.
On Earth, the lightning frequency is approximately 40–50 times a second or nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year and the average duration is 30 microseconds. Many factors affect the frequency, distribution, strength and physical properties of a “typical” lightning flash in a particular region of the world. These factors include ground elevation, latitude, prevailing wind currents, relative humidity, proximity to warm and cold bodies of water, etc.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who arrived at his new residence on the banks of Krishna at Undavalli in Guntur district, held a review meeting with the district collectors over heavy rain and rain-related deaths. He announced Rs.4 lakh ex-gratia each for the families of those residents killed as lightning struck. And, asked the district administration to be on high alert to meet any eventuality following the rain forecast indicating heavy rains for next 24 hours.
Parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana received heavy rains under the impact of a low pressure area over Bay of Bengal. The rains led to flooding of low-lying areas and inundated roads, affecting the movement of traffic.IMAGE/Wikipedia