Mulugu: Tornado-like winds struck the forests of Mulugu district in Telangana on Wednesday. The scenes reflected something of a massive natural calamity, said eyewitnesses. Such was the fury of the tornado that thousands of massive trees were uprooted at a single place, said reports.
The tornado has struck the state at a time when it is already reeling under heavy rains and several areas have been flooded. The trees have collapsed in the reserve forest between Medaram and Tadvai. Large trees have completely collapsed over a three-kilometer stretch, said reports.
Distress among locals
The locals in the area were distressed following the devastation caused by the tornado. They feel that had the tornado struck some kilometres ahead it would have hit the village and blown away several houses.
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Meanwhile the forest department officials are also shocked at seeing so many trees fallen at one place. In fact a report in the Times of India put the number of fallen trees at 50,000. These have fallen over an area of 200 hectares and that too in a linear pattern, over a stretch of 2 kilometres, said the newspaper.
Forest officials to consult IMD
According to reports, the forest officials were left shocked at the scenes witnessed in the Mulugu forest. They said that either tornadoes or straight line winds, which are powerful winds resulting from specific thunderstorm patterns, might have led to the destruction. These winds are different from tornadoes as they do not rotate but can exceed 50 miles per hour, and cause similar levels of destruction.
Now in order to be sure of what exactly might have led to this destruction in the forest, officials plan to approach the India Meteorological Department and the National Remote Sensing Centre to analyse the real issue.