Odisha experienced intense heat during the daytime, while nor'westers caused damage in several areas on Thursday afternoon, the Met office said. The thunderstorms uprooted trees and snapped power lines, causing disruption of electricity supply in many places in Bhubaneswar, Puri, Pipili and Cuttack. Kutcha houses were also damaged in areas in Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Dhenkanal, Koraput, Cuttack and Nabarangapur.

Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahu has asked the affected districts to liaise with discoms for restoring power supply and to take the help of fire personnel for the removal of uprooted trees and snapped branches. He sought a report from the districts on the damage caused to houses and casualties, if any.

During the daytime, as many as 14 places, mostly in the western part of the state, recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, with Talcher the hottest at 42.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Sambalpur (42.7), Nuapada (42.4), Jharsuguda (42.2), the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.?

While state capital Bhubaneswar sizzled at 40 degrees Celsius in the first half of the day, it encountered thunderstorms in the afternoon. The IMD has predicted similar weather conditions of heat during the daytime and rain in the evening for the next three days.