The first Nor’wester of the year lashed parts of Savar and Ashulia on Saturday evening, bringing with it strong winds, hailstorms, and loud thunder that caused widespread damage and disruption.

In Savar police station area, the storm lasted for 20 minutes — from 6:30pm to 6:50pm — but in Ashulia, gusty winds, hail, and thunder persisted intermittently for nearly two hours, from 6:30pm to 8:15pm.

Two people were reportedly injured in lightning strikes in the Dhamsona area during the storm. Among them, a woman was admitted to a local healthcare centre for treatment.

Shakila Khatun, a resident of Bashundhara area in Ashulia and an accounts officer at the Palli Bidyut office, said the storm battered her neighbourhood with hail and fierce winds for over an hour and a half.

Shahadat Hossain Mondol of Baipail said heavy hail also hit Boga Bari, Jamgora, Ghazir Chot, Kaicha Bari, DEPZ, Narsinghapur and nearby areas. “Due to the force of the gusty wind, branches of trees fell on electric wires in several places,” he added.

As a result, most parts of Savar and Ashulia’s industrial zones experienced power outages lasting two to three hours. Electricity workers said in some areas, reconnection was not possible as large tree branches had fallen on multiple wires simultaneously.

The storm severely damaged crops and about 50 acres of rose plantations in the village of Golapgram. Several mud houses also collapsed in different parts of the region.

Local farmer Tarikul Islam alleged that there had been no warning from the weather office about the Nor’wester. He also complained that repeated calls to the weather office to inquire about wind speed went unanswered.

Savar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abu Bakar Sarker said the extent of the damage was still being assessed. “The storm had very strong wind speed.”