Oct 10, 2013: It was three weeks since I moved to Bhubaneswar. I moved into an apartment, and was happily buying household stuff. I heard vague warnings about the approaching storm, but could not interpret the seriousness of them. The next day, 11th Oct, I started my day as usual with the Bhubaneswar urban market visit. The day was unusually windy, and the conditions were overcast. I saw huge crowds in front of grocery stores and super markets. It was around 12PM when one of my teammates explained me about the impending storm and its magnitude. The scary part of his explanation was the chance of no water and power for days after the storm.
I did not have many options then. The buses and trains were running four times their capacity. Airports shut down and flights cancelled. My car still was not delivered by the movers. So that’s it, I have to brace myself for the storm. I rushed to the nearest big bazaar, where I for the first time saw the panic. People were picking up any food they could get hold of. Essentials like rice, dal were almost over. There was no stock of Maggi, bread, water. Candles were the products in most demand, and were not available anywhere, be it super markets or grocery stores. Luckily, I could get hold of a few at one small pan shop, at a price of Rs50 per stick. I picked up bread, jam, butter, maggi and lots of juices and reached home.
7AM, Oct 12 2013: The sound from the wind was becoming unbearable. The landfall is still 12 hours away. The electricity was down since 11PM the day before. Two mobiles and two laptops are almost fully charged; uncertain about the electricity, I have to save battery in my mobiles. All I did for the next ten hours was just lying on the bed and gazing up at the ceiling, with an occasional troll in the hall. My brother was giving me constant news update through SMS. With the storm very close to the land, the wind speeds have touched 150KMph and have enough force to drag us off from our feet. The light is fading fast and the worst is yet to come.
6PM, Oct 12 2013: The bedroom I was in has a window which opens to the East. Scared that the window panes might give away, I decided to move into the Kitchen. I spread a bed sheet on the floor, and with a candle on, I was sitting all alone, in the eye of the storm. With my brothers updates continuing to flow in, I was counting minutes and seconds. The deep urge to pass out by having alcohol on one side and the necessity to stay alert on the other. I had my wallet and my mobile on me, just in case.. The wind speeds worsened and 9PM to 12PM was the scariest, when according to the newspapers, wind speeds touched 180KMph in Bhubaneswar. The storm passed via Bhubaneswar district to go North West. I slept off around 2 AM on the kitchen floor.
6AM: Oct 13, 2013: The storm passed. There still was some wind. Electricity is still down. News reports show that Phailin was moving towards Jharkhand, leaving a trail of destruction. After another full day, the power was up on the midnight of 13th, after a full 48 hours. I realized the magnitude of destruction only when I stepped out of my flat, for the first time after almost 3 days, around afternoon on 14th. Though there was not much loss to human life around 6 million people had to be moved to safe places. Around 26 lakh trees were uprooted, 12 lakh hectares of crop was damaged and immense loss to property in Orissa and North AP.
I came across this beautiful quote, which clearly explains what I have gone through. My only advice is, please don’t stay in the way of the storm. Do not under estimate the fury of nature.
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