The flood situation in north Orissa turned grim on Wednesday with the Subarnarekha and Jalaka rivers wreaking havoc in several areas and affecting over 1.5 lakh people in Balasore district, officials said.

Both rivers were flowing above the danger levels, affecting three blocks in Balasore district, while the Baitarani river overflowed its embankment at several places and inundated large areas in Dhamnagar block in Bhadrak district, they said.

The Mahanadi, Orissa's biggest river system, too, was in spate though there was no threat to the deltaic plains.

Officials said there was also a threat of more rains in the state as the well marked low pressure area over gangetic West Bengal and adjoining north Bay of Bengal had moved to north Orissa, Jharkhand and its neighbourhood.

The met office here warned rain and thundershowers were likely over most places in Orissa and heavy to very heavy rains were forecast at isolated places within the next two days.

Though fishermen were cautioned against venturing out to sea, the cautionary signal number three hoisted at Puri, Gopalpur, Paradip and Chandbali had been withdrawn.

The Brahmani, another major river, was rising along its course following heavy rainfall in its catchment area, with Naktideul registering 17 cm of rainfall during the last 24 hours.