Cyclone Phailin

Last week, we visited one of the most important ShaktiPeeths of India,  the Maa Tara Tarini Temple in Berhampur, Odisha. As our visit was after a couple of years, we were happy to see the developments there but sad to see the absence of the erstwhile greenery. Some parts of the once green hill now look barren & as if all the plants & trees have been cleanly shaven off... just like a clean-shaven head without any hair...

From this newspaper article, we realized that it's the result of last year's Phailin Cyclone attack where Gopalpur and its surrounding areas in Odisha, including the Temple-City, Bhubaneswar & the Silk-City, Berhampur, were badly hit.

Cyclone Phailin, a Category 5 Cyclone,  made its presence felt last year from October 4th to 14th, 2013.

The landfall  was near Gopalpur, Odisha with the highest wind being 260 km/h.
In Odisha, 11.5 Lakh people were evacuated, while in Andhra 1.3 Lakh people were evacuated.

In contrast, the recent Cyclone HudHud is a Category 4 Cyclone that has emerged from October 7th 2014 onwards with winds about 175  km/h.                                                    
In Odisha, 1.6 Lakh people have been evacuated, while in Andhra 5 Lakh people have been evacuated.

Last year's memories are still fresh in my mind.
Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, was also ravaged by the strong winds and the heavy rains.

Here are some pics taken last year in Bhubaneswar by my sister from our home's terrace:

Notice the fallen branches of trees.

Our Amala (Indian Gooseberry) tree lost many of its branches...

The pots on our terrace were displaced and overturned...

Cyclone Phailin badly affected Gopalpur and Berhampur.

My Grandfather's home & Godowns were severely affected.
Some roofs had been blown away and a boundary wall had collapsed.

My father took the following two pics when he visited Berhampur two days after the Cyclone, as the roads & National Highway needed to be cleared of the big trees that had fallen and blocked the entire route...

 

They show Cyclone Phailin's effects...

As I mentioned in my recent Cyclone HudHud post, despite our technological advancement, we still have to face heavy losses. But, great that fewer lives are now lost, though we can't prevent the damage to property...


As we observe the anniversary of Cyclone Phailin, it is notable to me as it is also the anniversary of my first Top Post on IndiBlogger- SOUND EXPRESSIONS.

While Cyclone Phailin raged outside, in candlelight, I had written a love-story set in Gopalpur amidst the Cyclone. It was BlogAdda's WOW topic in which we had to use expressions of sound.
Cyclone Phailin sure inspired me for the story as it made monstrous & scary sounds outside...

There was no electricity and no battery-charge in my cellphone or laptop.
After many days, I was actually using pen and paper to write a story...

The deadline for the post was Sunday midnight.
But, as electricity was restored only the next day, I quickly recharged  my laptop and typed out my love-story to share with BlogAdda & IndiBlogger.

Nice that BlogAdda considered my post and I earned another WOW badge.

Also, I posted on IndiBlogger, but unlike the usual times, I could not Vote for my friends/network posts there as there was no electricity again!
When finally we had electricity and I logged on, imagine my surprise to find my post for the first time on IndiBlogger's HomePage!

Cyclone Phailin had gifted me something to cheer about!

Do read the love-story- SOUND EXPRESSIONS :)