Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani

Odisha, a state in eastern India, gets cylonic storms as visitors regularly.
The Supercyclone of 1999 wrecked large scale devastation. Thereafter, the recent cyclones namely-Cyclone Phailin in 2013, Cyclone HudHud in 2014, Cyclone Titli in 2018 etc are still fresh in our memory.
Now the state is on high alert as an extremely severe cyclonic storm "Fani" is slated to hit the Odisha coast in Puri district on May 3rd.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences, India, has issued warning about Cyclone Fani.

Car In The Cyclone

She was driving their car.

There was a sudden cyclone that air-lifted their car and crashed it in the middle of nowhere.

PHOTO PROMPT - Ted Strutz

To her relief, both she and her daughter were safe in the car.

But, there were strange creatures in front.

Her daughter was screaming.

“I need you to stay quiet and out of sight”, she whispered to her daughter.

Some aliens were emerging from underground.

What if the aliens started firing?

Photo- Arif Ikhwani 

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.

Cyclone HudHud

I get very disturbed when there are natural calamities. Who doesn't get affected?

The memories of Cyclone Phailin, in Odisha on October 12th, exactly a year ago, are still fresh in my mind.

The effects of any natural calamity like a cyclone is devastating. It incurs a lot of pressure on our administrative machinery and takes a toll on general public & development...
We lose a lot of time and resources...

When I first heard the name of the latest cyclone- HudHud, being the HUGE Hindi Movies Fan that I am, I remembered the title song from the Salman Khan starrer- Dabangg.
In Hindi, the word Dabangg means fearless.

No doubting the power of Cyclone HudHud Dabangg.

It had started making its presence felt much before its arrival.

"Coming Soon to Odisha & AP. Nature's Production & Direction-From the makers of Phailin." 

Welcome Back!

The old lady believed- 'No Looking Back'.
Circumstances had made her the target of attack...

Snapshots of that day in 1999 came to her mind;
She felt uneasy having been through the grind.

The Super-Cyclone had snatched her fisherman-son...
The terrible loss made her forget the meaning of fun.

In 2013, in Odisha, India, during the Dussehra fest,
Cyclone Phailin came visiting as an unwanted guest.

She heard a baby crying at her door-
Surprised to see a new-born lay on her floor…

The Sea was compensating having taken someone so dear?
She welcomed back her son with cheer...



This Post is for the 99-Words Challenge of the Trifecta Writing Challenge.
From the 99th Page of the Oxford English Dictionary, the word I chose is- Back.

This week we are giving you a page from the Oxford English Dictionary.  The ninety-ninth page, to be exact.  (Click to enlarge.)  From this page, you can choose any word, any definition, to use in your post.  (Please type your chosen word in bold, so we know.)  And instead of our typical 33-333 word limit, we are asking for 99 words exactly. - See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.WLUYJhBr.dpuf