Bhubaneswar: A fresh surge in Subarnarekha river on Thursday inundated parts of Balasore district and left thousands marooned, even as the overall flood situation in north Odisha showed signs of improvement with water levels in major rivers receding.The latest flooding affected Baliapal and Bhograi blocks the most, with authorities intensifying rescue and relief operations in the newly submerged areas.Special relief commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said the flood situation across the state was gradually improving owing to reduced rainfall over the past 24 hours and falling level in rivers. He expressed hope that conditions would improve further over the next three days.Relief operations continued for around 12.87 lakh people affected across 226 gram panchayats in 34 blocks of six districts, including the worst-hit Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts.Although Subarnarekha showed a receding trend later in the day, official reports said it was still flowing nearly a metre above the danger level at Rajghat. Other major rivers in the state also witnessed a gradual fall in water level. Central Water Commission (CWC) forecast that Subarnarekha would continue to recede, offering relief to flood-hit residents.Patil said more than 28,000 people remained marooned in Balasore district, despite improvement in several pockets. Low-lying areas continued to remain under close watch as officials coordinated rescue, evacuation and rehabilitation efforts after the river peaked around 3 am on Thursday.A district official said the fresh floodwater submerged 20 panchayats in Bhograi block and cut off more than 130 villages from the rest of the district. Reports of breaches in embankments at several locations added to residents’ woes.The district administration has sounded a high alert and deployed rescue and relief teams in the worst-affected panchayats. Officials are monitoring the situation round-the-clock and have advised people living in vulnerable areas to move to safer locations if water levels rise again.Authorities fear that additional rainfall could worsen the situation in Baliapal and Bhograi in the coming days.Meanwhile, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast an increase in rainfall activity across parts of Odisha between Aug 22 and 24 and issued orange and yellow warnings for heavy to very heavy rain in some districts. On Friday, heavy rainfall is likely in Sundargarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts, while light to moderate rainfall is expected at many places across the state.