Homes destroyed in Mizoram

At least 368 homes have been devastated by thunderstorm accompanied by hailstorm and gusty wind in 10 districts of Mizoram on Thursday (May 2), state Disaster Management and Rehabilitation department officials said on Friday.Hailstorm and strong wind ravaged and caused massive destruction on Thursday morning and afternoon across the state which now included southern districts of Lawngtlai, Siaha and Hnahthial while 4 homes were also destroyed in central Mizoram’s Serchhip district. The worst hit district is northeastern Khawzawl district where 68 homes were damaged which included 5 homes being completely destroyed at Sialhawk village and 55 homes damaged at Tlangpui village, making the total homes damaged at 128.

 Village leaders of Sialhawk said that large areas of pineapple and orange cultivation have been ravaged and the village, which has been major producer of fruits in the state is most likely to witness minimum harvest of pineapple and orange this year. Southernmost Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district also witnessed 78 homes being damaged in Tuithumhnar village alone and 8 houses at Lunghauka village and another one in Sabualtlang village. Adjoining Siaha district also has 69 houses being destroyed or damaged while at least 40 homes were destroyed in Aizawl district. At least 29 homes were destroyed or damaged in Tripura border Mamit district in northwestern Mizoram. Other districts hit by the thunderstorm are Myanmar border Champhai and Manipur border Saitual with damage of 2 and 1 houses respectively.

With the latest report of devastation, around 1,200 buildings and structures have been destroyed or damaged in the state since the pre-monsoon thunderstorm, along with hailstorm and gusty wind hit Mizoram from early April. Southern part of the state, however, received rainfall only from Thursday as the area remained dry with heatwave conditions earlier.  The nature fury also caused snap of power transmission lines in many places as southern parts of the state remaining powerless since Thursday afternoon. A number of road blocks due to landslides have also been reported.