Srinagar:
Three people were killed and 20 others were injured in the past 24 hours as storms wreaked havoc in Kashmir valley damaging nearly 10,000 structures and throwing normal life out of gear.
"I have never seen such a devastating storm in my whole life. I almost gave up," said Ashiq, a resident of Srinagar. "We thought it was the last day. Many houseboats were damaged. There was no water, no electricity," said another resident.
Mohammad Maqbool Magray, a resident of Kangan in Ganderbal district, died after the branch of Chinar tree fell on him, an official spokesman said.
Twenty other persons were injured in similar incidents in the rest of the Valley due to the high speed winds, blowing as fast as 30 knots, since last night, the spokesman said.
Property worth crores of rupees was damaged by powerful overnight storms, he said.
He while 29 residential houses were destroyed, nearly 10,000 structures including 6,670 residential houses were damaged in the cyclone-like storm.
The severity of the weather condition forced the authorities to announce closure of all schools to ensure safety of the students.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who took stock of the damages, wrote on his Twitter page that the situation will be properly assessed once the winds stop.
"Reports of damage to homes on account of tin roofs blowing away are still coming in. Will wait for the winds to ease before we get final number," Omar wrote.