Fierce Hudhud shakes up unwary citizens

For residents, it’s almost like a house arrest with their being not able to move out their houses all through the day on Sunday.

For a generation, it was a totally new and horrifying experience with no cyclone crossing the coast near Visakhapatnam for nearly two decades now. Not many took the warnings issued seriously.

The last cyclone that smashed the city was in mid-90s and for the younger generation that hardly knew a cyclone, with Hudhud crossing the coast near the city and its after-effects, it was a bitter experience.

There was no let up in rain and gales that started around midnight on Sunday. Only around 9 p.m. on Sunday the rain and wind stopped.

All through the day several residents had to shove out water that flowed in from terraces.

Not having experienced a disaster of such magnitude, they were hardly prepared to face it. Now with no water and milk supply, many found it difficult to deal with daily demands of life.

Roads blocked

With trees with massive trunks falling across the roads in thickly populated areas, lanes and by-lanes, it was a close call for residents. People had to pass through narrow pathways amid uprooted trees in areas like Sitammadhara.

Residents have come together clearing trees cutting them off with knives and pulling them off with ropes to clear the way. With no municipal water supply and electric motors not working people found it difficult to get water.

At Sitammadhara North extension, residents came together to provide water, cleared the branches of trees and made way for themselves.

At Gopalapatnam too, residents’ association members put their shoulders together cutting off branches and making way for moving out.

Milk is a scare commodity with regular supply not materialising. With there being no power supply, several eateries closed down and wayside shops did brisk business. Liquor shops opened early!