Balasore: For the family of Hemant Das, the sky was so blue and serene but on May 26, suddenly everything changed. Clouds darkened over their fate just like the sky when hostile winds and torrential downpour made their life miserable.
The day changed their life upside down in a matter of few hours when extremely severe cyclonic storm Yaas ripped through their area causing unimaginable destruction in their Jalada panchayat in Khaira block after making landfall near Bahanaga coast in the district.
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Once brimming with hope, now his family of four anxiously awaits for some help to rebuild their dream. The cyclone and the subsequent widespread flooding induced by the heavy rainfall damaged their house and roof beyond recognition and now all they have to cover their heads is a piece of polythene supplied by the administration as relief.
Now almost 10 days later, Hemant's family is still unable to get ground under its feet because of the unending misery of living without a proper house, feeding under the starry sky and most of all scurrying to take shelter in a bus parked nearby during nights and rainfall.
Due to extremely heavy rainfall during the cyclone, our house was inundated and we had nowhere to go. Our two sons and my husband decided to take shelter in a bus parked near our house. Even now we have not received any financial assistance to rebuild our house and are suffering like hell. During days, we rest under trees, and in night, the seats inside the bus turn our beds," said Sulochana Das.
A thankful Hemant says that he is indebted to the bus owner Harihar Sethi who has allowed his family to take shelter in the bus during this crisis. He also did not forget to extend gratitude to the almighty because if not for the lockdown restrictions, they would not have the bus to look up to.
Harihar Sethi, the owner of the bus says, "I allowed Hemant's family to use the bus after the cyclone blew out their house and the flood inundated the nearby school building.
Sources said several areas of Khaira block continue to grapple under waterlogging and its after impacts as life slowly limps back to normalcy.