TIRUCHY: Widespread rainfall brought respite to people battling soaring temperatures in Tiruvarur, while one person died after being struck by lightning on Thursday.

As there was a prediction for rainfall across the State a couple of days ago, Tiruvarur district witnessed widespread rainfall from Wednesday evening lasting till Thursday and thereby bringing down the summer heat.

Though the sky was overcast in Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Mayiladuthurai during the morning hours of Thursday, the sky cleared across most of the districts except Tiruvarur. Places like Mannargudi, Nannilam, Kottur, and Tiruthuraipoondi had heavy rainfall while Tiruvarur town had witnessed moderate rainfall which lasted for around two hours.

Welcoming the rain, the farmers from the district said that it would reduce the temperature for a few days which would support the crops cultivated.

They also said that the rainfall as per the IMD prediction has given them confidence to go ahead with the short-term crop cultivation.

Meanwhile, the Nannilam area in Tiruvarur witnessed heavy rainfall along with lightning and a youth who was identified as Akash (23) from Alathur village died in a lightning strike. Akash was grazing cattle when the incident took place, said sources.