Hyderabad: Lakshmidevipeta village in Venkatapuram mandal of Mulugu district recorded the highest ever rainfall of 64.98 cm during the last 24 hours ending 8 am on Thursday. Such a record rainfall is first of such occurrence in the history of the State. It is considered one of the most extreme rainfall events in the region. The second highest rainfall of 61.65 cm was recorded at Chityal in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.
Wazeedu mandal in Mulugu district recorded 51.75 cm on July 19 in 2013. Both Venkatapuram and Wazeedu were part of the largely forested pockets of erstwhile Khammam district. As many as 35 places in the State received a rainfall of above 20 cm and 200 places above 10 cm.
A majority of the places where heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded were part of the catchment of Godavari and its tributaries. It will be adding immediately to the flood flow in Godavari which is close to the danger mark (Third warning) level of 53 ft at Bhadrachalam.
Rains still continue to pound the agency pockets of the State, posing threat to the tribal habitations in low-lying areas all along the river course of Godavari. According to reports, Chelpur, Regonda and Mogullapalli recorded the highest rainfall of 47.58 cm, 46.70 cm and 39.40 cm respectively in these regions.
Extreme rain events recorded in the country so far are Aminidevi in Lakshadweep (116.8 cm on May 5-6, 2004 and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya (103.6 cm) on June 13-14, 1876.