Shillong, Nov 11: The sky turned dark in minutes, and then it rained ice.
Shillong and its surrounding hills were lashed by heavy rain and a sudden hailstorm today afternoon, turning a calm November day into chaos for farmers and residents. In the worst-hit belt, the storm battered the area for nearly an hour, flattening standing paddy just weeks before harvest.
The devastation was heaviest in Langniuh and adjoining villages under the Mairang C&RD Block in Eastern West Khasi Hills. Villages like Maroid, Nongthymmai, Thangmaw, Rikhen and Mawsyiem were hit around 3:30 pm, when the hailstorm struck with heavy rainfall and wiped-out crops that had taken months to grow.
For farming families, the timing could not have been crueller. The paddy was mature, almost ready to be cut. In just 20 minutes, fields that promised a good harvest were left flattened and ruined.
In Shillong city, the sudden downpour caught shoppers, commuters and students off guard. Roads turned slippery, traffic slowed to a crawl, and rooftops echoed with the sound of hailstones. The temperature dipped sharply, and the city remained cloudy and cold through Tuesday, hovering around 16°C with high humidity.
Affected farmers have now appealed to the state government to urgently send officials to assess the damage and provide adequate compensation.
From the city’s white rooftops to the ruined fields of Mairang, the message is the same — one storm, and a season’s hard work is gone.
