Chevella in Andhra Pradesh hails the 'snow'

DC | Amar Tejaswi | 31st Jan 2013 Extract:

"Hyderabad: Several villages in three mandals of Rangareddy in Andhra Pradesh were completely transformed on Wednesday as ice covered the entire area after a violent bout of hailstorm. It was an once-in-a-lifetime experience for people living in seven villages in Chevella, Moinabad and Shankarpally as hailstones, some as large as boulders, started falling from the sky on Tuesday night.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that about nine people had died and many had been injured in the hailstorm. There were also heavy losses to livestock as huge pieces of ice came crashing through flimsy roofs.

On Wednesday morning, the entire area resembled a valley in Kashmir in midwinter. Roads and fields were completely covered with small pieces of hail while extremely large ones, never witnessed before, were seen scattered all over." continue reading