Nabarangpur district received heavy rainfall since Saturday due to a low pressure over the Bay of Bengal. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued an orange warning for the district from August 7 to 9.
Due to the heavy rains, the water levels of the rivers in the district were increasing gradually. State Highway 39 connecting Nabarangpur to Umerkote had been cut off for a long time due to three-foot high water flowing over the bridge of Turi river near Papdahandi.
Besides, it is presumed that many rivers of the district are likely to overflow if such rains continue for the next twelve hours. Apart from this, the National Highway 26 connecting Nabarangpur to Bhawanipatna and Raipur was disrupted for a long time as a number of mango trees near village Taragaon were uprooted and fell on the road.
A widow woman namely Pratima Santa of Bhainsibandha village in Jharigaon block was swept away in a river near her village and died.
According to information, Pramila had left home for work on Saturday but did not return home till evening. However, after a search, Pramila's body was found a kilometer away from the village.
Being informed, Jharigaon police reached the spot, recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem. Villagers Trilochan Santa and Urden Santa said while Pramila was crossing the river to come home after work, she was swept away by the river current.
The district received a total of 327.4 mm of rainfall on Monday while the average rainfall is 32.74 mm. District Collector Kamal Lochan Mishra appealed the people to not go to the lower catchment areas.
Bedsides, over 300 houses collapsed in different blocks of the district. Rain water entered into the houses of lower catchment areas in Jharigaon, Papdahandi and Tentulikhunti blocks.