New Delhi, May 3 -- A violent storm that apparently caught the India Meteorological Department (IMD) unawares lashed Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) early on Friday, killing fivepeople, uprooting hundreds of trees, disrupting flight schedules and deluging the city with the second-heaviest May day showers in 124 years.

The Capital received 77mm of rain during the three-hour downpour, which began around 5am. Within minutes, fierce winds that touched speeds of 80km/hour whipped through the city, bending trees and snapping branches which crashed onto homes and vehicles. Traffic disruptions were reported as commuters tried to navigate through flooded streets and past fallen branches.

A 26-year-old woman and her three children wer...