Floods triggered by heavy monsoon rain in the past week has submerged thousands of hectares of agricultural land in five Orissa districts, ruining paddy crops of thousands of farmers in the region.

Farmers sowed paddy seeds last week after the occurrence of first rain but they were completely destroyed by the flood water.

Locals claim this year's flood is the worst disaster they witnessed after the super cyclone of 1999 that had devastated coastal Orissa, killing over 10,000 people.