Rayagada: Heavy rainfall triggered by a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal disrupted normal life across Odisha's Rayagada district, with an uprooted tree blocking the Odisha-Andhra road for several hours.

According to reports, a large tree fell on the road near Partapur village during heavy rain late on Saturday night. The incident completely blocked traffic on the key interstate route connecting Odisha and Andhra Pradesh for nearly five to six hours.

As the tree fell late at night, clearance work could not begin immediately, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides of the road. Fire Services personnel and police launched an operation on Sunday morning to remove the tree, after which traffic movement was restored.

Rayagada and its surrounding areas have been witnessing continuous rainfall for the past 48 hours, severely affecting normal life. Persistent rain has damaged several roads, including major highways and rural roads, leading to the formation of large potholes and making travel hazardous.

The Rayagada-Vizianagaram main road has developed several large potholes, posing a risk to motorists. Similarly, the Kerada-Kuneru road near the Andhra Pradesh border has suffered extensive damage due to heavy rain, with commuters complaining of difficult and unsafe driving conditions.

Strong winds accompanying the rain have also disrupted power supply in several villages after tree branches fell on electricity lines. Many villages have remained without electricity for the past two days.

Power supply has been completely disrupted in several areas under Baisingi, Durgapadu, Pippalaguda, Sirigumma, Matikana and Kuli panchayats of Rayagada block. The outage has affected drinking water supply, communication and other daily activities of residents.

Officials of Tata Power said restoration work is being carried out on a war footing by clearing fallen branches and repairing damaged power lines. They said electricity supply will be restored in phases once weather conditions improve and repair work is completed.