Five persons were killed in rain-related incidents as heavy rain, accompanied by gale, lashed different parts of Prakasam and Nellore SPSR Nellore districts on Thursday.
Two persons -- Narappareddy Penchal Reddy (65) and Subba Rao (54) -- were struck dead by lightning at Baskaraveedhivari Kandrika near Bogole and Gogulapalli near Alluru in SPSR Nellore district respectively, police sources said.
In Prakasam district, a farmer, Lakshmana Rao (55), was charred to death following thunderbolt at Mitapalem near Tripurantakam.
In another rain-related incident, two farmers -- Ankaiah (60) and Krishnaiah (42) -- were killed when the tractor by which they were travelling on a marshy tank bund road fell into a water tank at Thimmareddipalem near Lingasamudram in Prakasam district.
The summer showers, though provided much-needed relief to denizens, brought severe hardship to farmers as the wet spell coincided with harvest of, among other winter crops, paddy, chilli and Bengal gram being taken up by farmers amid labour shortage in the wake of lockdown. The downpour brought down flex boards and barricades put up by the police to enforce lockdown in Nellore, where the containment action plan was implemented in several parts in the wake of 12 persons being tested positive for COVID-19 so far. Low-lying areas, including Ramalingapuram under bridge, were covered by a sheet of water.
The downpour also put to inconvenience the people who rushed to buy essential commodities during the lockdown relaxation period.
