DanChurchAid
Bangladesh
Nobi's account
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| 29 year old fishermen Nobi Hussein from the village Rayenda Bazar in the Sarankhola area in Bangladesh survived the cyclone Sidr |
"Yes, we did receive warnings of a severe storm. But, you know, we fishermen are kind of level-headed types, who don't get scared easily. We are used to storms, and I have experienced at least 12 warnings like this before. Last time in October 2007 - only a month prior to the cyclone Sidr - but what happened? Nothing! Not even one raindrop fell. So when the warning came this time we decided to ride out the storm in our house, which is made of bamboo. The cyclone shelter is too far away anyhow, and who would look after our belongings if we left the house? But when the storm actually struck, I quickly realized that this was not just an ordinary storm. We could hardly see a thing, and heard nothing but branches falling, trees crashing down and the howling of the wind, and so my wife and me - I was just married so we don't have any children yet - together with my parents and younger brother,we all decided to leave our house and seek shelter in a neighbouring two-storeyed house made of cement. Somehow we managed to struggle through this inferno to the cement house. Already over 30 people were huddling together on the first floor when we came. The roof of corrogated iron sheets had already been ripped off and disappeared so everyone there was exposed to the rain and the wind. Actually, this was the house of the village chairman. When we came inside I noticed that his TV and fridge was still downstairs, so I sent my wife upstairs, while trying to rescue the two. But suddenly the tidal wave came and filled the whole ground floor in the wink of an eye. I just had to scramble for the stairs and let the TV go. And you know what? - the water was warm! I thought, 'This is the end.' But I fumbled about and finally found the stairs and got up to the others. After less than ten minutes the water started to recede. Also the wind changed direction from south-east to north-west, so I understood that the worst part of the storm was behind us. Still, the storm continued throughout the night, and when morning came we got to know that many people were missing, and many had been hurt. And the devastation was enormous!
One woman lost her ten month old baby because she in the panic of the tidal wave grabbed a pillow instead of the baby - who promtly was sweapt away. Another man grabbed hold of his child and managed to scramble up a tree to avoid the surging tide. Both father and child survived, but there were so many missing people. And there were dead animals everywhere - goats, cows, ducks, chicken - so many had been killed. Many houses were destroyed or severely damaged, and all people's belongings had been washed away. Our fishing boats had been smashed to pieces. And everywhere there was knee-deep mud, the wells were filled with mud and dirty water, and fallen trees, branches and all kinds of other debris made movement so difficult. Then, as we started to move around, we found the dead bodies of our neighbours and relatives. It was heartbreaking! The enormity of what had happened dazed us completely. It was so difficult to grasp that this really had happened, - and just in a span of a few hours. Actually, the centre of the cyclone with the highest winds lasted perhaps only half an hour. Still, so many dead! Total destruction! We had nothing to eat or drink for two days and we were so hungry and exhausted, but then an army helicopter appeared and dropped high protein biscuits and bottled water. I ate just one biscuit, and immidiately felt much better. Incredible! Special army biscuits, I suppose. One good thing was that the cyclone hit us at low tide. If it had happened during high tide, the tidal surge would have been much higher than three meters, and many more people would have been killed."
"How did you earn your living before the cyclone, and what is your situation now after the cyclone?"
"Before the cyclone I was a fisheman on one of the deep-sea trawlers. On a trawler you have the owner, the captain and four crew-members, altogether six persons. Suppose the catch is sold for 200.000 taka, the owner gets 100.000. Then he deducts all costs for fuel etc., say 20.000. The captain gets 25.000, and the rest - 55.000 in this example - is divided equally among the four crew members, that is some 14.000 taka each. The trawel was also destroyed by the cyclone, but I have got a boat and a net together with two others as compensation through DSK, so now I can survive as an independent fisherman!"
By Viggo Brun, vbr.india@dca.dk
Asia
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