National
A survivor narrates the horror of the storm that battered Bara
Shree Krishna Patel is one of seven survivors airlifted from Simara to Kathmandu after rescue efforts began Monday morning in the wake of the terrible storm that battered Bara and Parsa districts on Sunday night.Anup Ojha
Shree Krishna Patel is one of seven survivors airlifted from Simara to Kathmandu after rescue efforts began Monday morning in the wake of the terrible storm that battered Bara and Parsa districts on Sunday night. The 38-year-old who hails from Pheta Rural Municipality-1 is currently undergoing treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Patel has fractured his right thigh-bone and has several wounds on his body.
His wife Reena Patel, who is also in Kathmandu, told the Post about the horrific moments that stormed the village leaving 27 dead and hundreds injured, as the storm destroyed everything on its path, leaving behind a trail of devastation. This is her story:
“It was around 8PM. We were preparing dinner after my husband had returned from the fields. The sky had turned dark as black clouds hovered and the wind was getting strong. After we closed the door and windows, the wind howled outside and pierced through the brick wall of our single floor house. Above us was just a tiled roof.
My husband was against the door, pushing it as hard as he could with his two hands to keep it shut. I was on the bed and holding my younger son Bishal. But he could not hold onto the door any longer as the wind broke the door and threw my husband flat on the ground, his face covered with dust. He was crying out loud when the brick wall collapsed and fell on him.
Once the wind stopped, I could hear the entire village screaming and crying. I was afraid. I thought it would be our last day on earth. Villagers then came to my husband’s recuse. I was still holding my son when we fell to the ground. Luckily, nothing happened to him and I only have a small injury on my nose. My elder son Bishal is lucky as he was in his uncle’s house in Birgunj.
We could not sleep the entire night because our house was torn apart and we spent the night under the sky on an empty stomach. At dawn, we saw the devastation that the storm had left behind. All houses had been flattened, trees were broken and the crops were destroyed in the field.
We are poor and own little land. We earn our bread by working in others’ fields. Had we been able to build a concrete house, we wouldn’t have had to go through the horrific night.
It is god’s grace that all our family members survived but I have heard that many people have been killed and hundred injured. The critically injured have been brought here with my husband. I pray for their speedy recovery.
I was born and raised in Tarai. We have endured strong winds many times but nothing has been this devastating. It has destroyed our houses. Many families have lost their loved ones. Hundreds of us are homeless. We don’t have food to eat and nowhere to go. I would like to request the government to look after us and give us shelter and protection in the near future so that we don’t have to go through the horrific experience again.”