LUCKNOW, Sept. 27 -- At least 17 people were killed and five others were injured as extremely heavy rainfall lashed several parts of Uttar Pradesh while monsoon activity intensified across the state on its retreat. Sixty-three of the state's 75 districts recorded above-normal rainfall with the state receiving 19 times the normal showers in the past 24 hours, according to relief commissioner Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod. The downpour and strong winds damaged 117 houses and standing crops. Lucknow (Amausi) recorded 135.8 mm of rainfall in 24 hours till 8:30 am on Saturday, while one observatory at Hanuman Setu recorded 201.2 mm of rainfall, marking one of the heaviest spells of the season in the state capital. The intense spell lashing Uttar Pradesh began over 48 hours ago on Thursday evening. A press statement from the relief commissioner's office said, "One death each was reported from Amethi, Bahraich, Banda, Barabanki, Basti, Fatehpur, Hamirpur, Hardoi, and Kanpur Nagar; two in Ayodhya; and four in Lakhimpur Kheri in the last 48 hours." It also said one person died due to a wall collapse in Bahraich, and another died due to a thunderstorm in Basti. Overall, Uttar Pradesh recorded average rainfall of 52.5 mm in 24 hours till 8.30am on Saturday. A number of observatories recorded over 200 mm rain. The highest rainfall of 342 mm was recorded at Muhammadi Lakhimpur Kheri observatory. Bhatpurwaghat in Sitapur recorded 273.2 mm rainfall, Baberu in Banda 245.6 mm, Katarniaghat in Bahraich 239 mm, Mahsi (Bahraich) 239 mm, Banda 227.6 mm, Fatehgarh (Farrukhabad) 224 mm, Nanpara (Bahraich) 217 mm, Hardoi 214 mm, Kaimganj (Farrukhabad) and Rath Hamirpur 210 mm. Hamirpur recorded 170 mm, Lakhimpur Kheri 163.9 mm, Shahjahanpur 162.1 mm, Banda 153.1 mm, Farrukhabad 139.4 mm, Kannauj 136.8 mm, Mahoba 132.3 mm, Shravasti 127.1 mm, Barabanki 94.3 mm, Sitapur 93.8 mm and Bareilly 90 mm. No rainfall was recorded in Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Mathura, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Shamli, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Hapur. Heavy rain and storms damaged 117 houses, including 14 in Hardoi, 21 in Jalaun, and 32 in Banda among other districts, the relief commissioner said. The relief commissioner told the district magistrates of the affected districts to meet families impacted by the excessive rainfall and ensure prompt resolution of their grievances. The relief commissioner instructed the district magistrates to utilise the services of fire services, PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary), Civil Defence, Home Guards and Aapda Mitras as required. There is a likelihood of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the state due to a depression situated over north-east Madhya Pradesh and adjoining south-east Uttar Pradesh, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast. This intense spell of rain and storm is likely to ease from Sunday evening. While West UP districts will continue to experience moderate to heavy rainfall as an orange alert has been issued, East UP districts will heave a sigh of relief as they have been placed on yellow alert. In view of the likelihood of gusty winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall-with isolated instances of extremely heavy rainfall and one or two locations experiencing exceptionally heavy rain (exceeding 30 cm)-there is a low to moderate risk of flash floods in some watersheds of the state's central and Terai regions over the next 24 hours, according to IMD. A high probability of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall exists in 10 districts: Shravasti, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, and surrounding regions. A high probability of heavy to very heavy rainfall exists in 25 districts: Lucknow, Barabanki, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Unnao, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti, Kushinagar, Kasganj, Etah, Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Gonda, Balrampur, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Etawah, Auraiya, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal, Budaun, and surrounding regions. The likelihood of hailstorms is high in the following areas: Banda, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Azamgarh, Mau, Ballia, Raebareli, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Saharanpur, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Jalaun, Hamirpur, and surrounding areas....