I don't know how many of you will remember the super cyclone that ravaged most of coastal Orissa on 29th of October 1999.Well I do,as I have experienced it first hand.That day I saw nature unleash all it's fury.
I remember,I was in my 12th standard studying at Ravenshaw College ,Cuttack(my home town).The met department had warned everyone of the incoming storm a day in advance.Their actual prediction was for the 28th and hence everybody took necessary precautions on that day.But strangely it went off peacefully and hence people decided to get on with their lives the next day.There were no signs of any turbulence on the morning of the 29th either which strengthened the people's belief that there was no storm to be worrying about and hence everyone started their day in the most usual way and went to their offices and shops.I made plans with a friend for watching the latest "Mummy" release in a nearby theatre(Matinee show) over the phone and was pretty excited about it.

But it took us only 2 hours to realize that the pleasant morning was actually the calm before the storm(It was never more true).At around 11:30 the sky darkened and strong wind started to blow.But still we thought it will pass in a matter of may be an hour or two.We,in Orissa are no strangers to heavy rains and mild cyclones.So it still didn't set the alarm bells ringing when the electricity went off and later our phone went dead(We didn't have cell phones then).The last 2 calls I made were one to my father who like others had gone to office in the morning and the other one to my friend cancelling our movie plans.

But then it started to sink in.This was no ordinary storm.The wind speed just kept on increasing and showed no signs of letting up.Accompanied with a heavy downpour it started to terrorize people who,by this time were all indoors.I still can't forget the scary hissing sound that reached us even through all the closed windows.As I kept on watching outside with amazement and fear I saw the coconut trees in our garden(we had a big garden in front of the house with all kinds of fruit bearing trees and flowery plants) just sway like crazy until they finally never got up.Needless to say our whole garden was in pieces at the end of the storm.This same exact thing continued the whole day and the whole night(about 20 hours).We were terribly worried for my Dad,who we couldn't get in touch with and just hoped and prayed that he is safe somewhere.

The wind died down the next morning.As I came out I was taken aback at the scene.My balcony seemed like an island as the ground was inundated in water 4 feet deep.Our tenants in the ground floor had to stay awake the whole night as they couldn't come up and contact us.Thankfully my Dad arrived soon and we were all relieved.Then started a struggle that lasted for a week.It took 2 days for the water to drain,5 days for the electricity to be restored and about 10 days for the telephones to work again.We were almost cut off totally in that period as our house was in one of the low lying areas of the town.It was nothing short of a miracle how we made it through that agony,all intact.

Well we were lucky.In rural areas the efect was nothing short of a catastrophe.People when going back to their places(by walking because the roads were in a total wreck) couldn't actually recognize their villages as all they could see was innundated fields where their homes once stood.The official figure for the deaths caused by this disaster was 9000 odd,but unofficially (and it was no exagerration) it went upto a lakh.The wind speed when it touched the Paradip Port was about 350 km/hr and kept on reducing as it moved inland.What we experienced at Cuttack was close to 260-270ks.

What made matters worse was the inefficiency and apathy of both the state and central Government in initiating the rescue work asap.The rebuilding work across the state went on for months but for those who lost their families and whose homes were wiped out the loss was just too much to be recovered.Even today people in Orissa talk about that fateful night with absolute horror.