When #CycloneFani Didn’t Devastate People’s Spirit. In fact, It Made Them Stronger!

May
2019
23
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By now, it must have been evident through a lot of viral videos, pictures and articles how devastating #CycloneFani was for the state of Odisha, especially for the cities of Puri, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and more. 

In fact, May 3, 2019 will always be remembered in the history of Odisha as well as the country. Not because Cyclone Fani was supposed to hit the state, but the unpredictable force with which it struck, the unforeseen damage which it left behind, the millions of trees it uprooted, the thousands of livelihood it destroyed, and the uncountable people on which it left a destructive impact. Few even died!

As much as the aftermath has been unbearable to see, it’s also been unbearable to feel. With no power and electricity for 4, 5, 6 and even 7 days for some, denizens faced a difficult time, and had a hard-hitting reminiscence of the ’99 Cyclone scenario. 

Amidst all the gloominess and sadness of the Cyclone’s aftermath, one thing that particularly made me feel happy and proud about Bhubaneswar, the city where I currently reside in; and Cuttack – my home town, is — people’s unity; their undying spirit to bounce back! 

I was amazed to know how some of the people had been on the road during the cyclone, to clear trees from the roads. And after the disaster, throughout the ‘heated up’ days and during the ‘pitch dark’ nights, electricians and workers were on the electric poles and streets to ensure the capital city is restored to its normal self. Many ITI students and volunteers went door-to-door in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to ensure safe restoration of domestic power supply in numerous households. 

Without paying heed to the backgrounds they belong to, even the residents left no stone unturned to extend their help. I could see people forming groups and clearing trees from the roads themselves, and many even extended their support to people who were working on the roads. 

Also, various self-help groups came forward to distribute food supplies, money, clothes, bottles of water and whatever else they could to help those in distress. 

As it’s impossible to document, in one piece, the various tales of support provided by people, I’d like to feature this particular group from #Cuttack who’ve emerged as one of the unsung heroes.

“Based in Cuttack, a welfare organization named Angel’s didn’t really wait for the day of Cyclone to die down, for beginning their support process. In fact, on May 3rd itself, 11 of them provided 2000 packets of biscuits to 2000 people including students, who were taking shelter at Ravenshaw University, Cuttack. 

Again on May 10, on seeing the electricians and labourers toiling day and night, they extended their generous help. This time, 32 of the Angels’ members provided butter milk and white caps to all those workers on the road, in CDA and Stadium areas of Cuttack.

But what they did in Puri has been the most commendable. On May 12, a majority of their team members left early morning for Puri, with 2000 food packets by their side. All of their packets included bread, GluconD, candles, match boxes, packing bags, jam, Amul spray milk powder, mosquito sticks, Chuda, and Parle G Biscuits. Their first halt was at Delanga and Kanas, interior villages situated around 20 — 25 kms from the Pipili town. Almost 1500 food packets got distributed there, and the remaining 500 was distributed in Puri by their team.”

This is just one story that I’ve highlighted. There may be hundreds and even thousands of them, from every corner of the state.

 

As a conclusion to this article, I’d like to point out to one of my tweets, which I posted few days back, as an encapsulation of the #CycloneFani #SilverLining 


The Angel's

23 May 2019
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By Nidhi Lohia

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