Whirlwind of Disaster
To read our past stories on cyclones, log on to www.indiatoday.in/disaster-fumble
1998
Unheeded Death Knell
Jayantibhai, his family and 28 others clambered onto the roof of his house near the salt pans of Gujarat’s Kandla to escape tides surging as high as 20 ft. Just then, a large swirl struck his home and it crumbled. As Jayantibhai clung to a pillar, he watched with horror as his two daughters, his wife and everyone else were dragged into the roiling waters. INDIATODAY, JUNE 22, 1998
1999
The Day Hope Died
Khirode Swain had no chance. On the evening of October 29 he ventured out into 290 kmph killer winds. India’s most devastating cyclone was making landfall at Paradip in Odisha. Swain tried leaving his shelter in a concrete school building to visit his one-room tenement to check his belongings. Like uncounted thousands, he was swept away by a surge of ocean water pulled inland by the cyclone. INDIATODAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1999