Gorakhpur records highest October rainfall in 100 years

With incessant heavy rains that lashed the district in the last 24 hours, Gorakhpur received its highest rainfall of October in 100 years, officials said Saturday.

The city on Saturday recorded 193 mm rainfall.

According to records maintained by the MeT, the district measured 218.7 mm rainfall in 1894.

There were continuous rains from 8.30 am on Friday to 8.30 am on Saturday, leading to a dip in temperature and waterlogging in several parts of the district and affecting traffic movement.

According to MeT official Kailash Pandey, “there is a well-marked low pressure area over southwest Bihar and adjoining UP (east) which has caused this heavy rain of 193 mm in the last 24 hours.” In the next 48 hours, moderate to low rain is expected in the region.

During this period, day temperature may be around 30 degrees Celsius while night temperature may fall down to 22 degrees, he said.

The neighbouring Deoria and Kushinagar districts also witnessed heavy rainfall Saturday, recording 75.5 mm and 66 mm rainfall respectively while Maharajganj and Sant Kabirnagar received moderate rainfall at 33.2 mm and 29.5 mm respectively.

Basti and Siddharth Nagar received low rainfall at 6.7 mm and 14.7 mm respectively, the weather office said. Due to heavy rain since Friday night, the streets wore a deserted look and shops remained shut as people preferred to remain indoors. Due to public holiday on Saturday, schools and offices were anyway closed.

Also, pictures of inundated buildings and offices went viral on social media with people blaming the local municipal body for not making proper arrangements to pump out the rainwater.