Introduction:
Every year a host of natural calamities plague humankind. In recent years, climate change due to environmental pollution and global warming has enhanced the incidence of such disasters.
A cyclone is one of the worst calamities that can befall us. A cyclone is a wind system that circulates about a centre of low atmospheric pressure.
Tropical cyclones tend to be violent and take a toll on human lives and livestock and other forms of property.
The Cyclone I saw:
I stay in the coastal town of Vishakhapatnam, popularly called Vizag. It is on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, notorious for churning out the most devastating of cyclones. I have always heard my parents and grandparents talk about them but I had never seen one. That day was a Friday. In the newspapers, the weather report mentioned heavy rains. It was like any other day. But as we were returning from school, it started getting dark as though it was already nightfall. I quickly returned home. My mother was greatly relieved to see me because by then the T.V. weather reporter had predicted a massive cyclone that was grazing the shores. Soon, the wind started blowing fiercely.
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From the safety of my room, I saw the horrifying scene- trees were being uprooted; as a branch fell on the electric pole, it sent off a huge spark, blowing off the electricity lines; a second later the whole electric pole came crashing down on the small shop beneath it. The roads were immediately deserted. An unfortunate young man who was cycling furiously to safety was blown by the wind and thrown several feet away in the distance. The tea stall nearby had a tin roof, which was hurled by the wind and like the devil’s weapon, it cut through the century old banyan tree in the vicinity.
As the wind speed reduced a little, it started raining. However, the wind was still strong enough to go on uprooting trees and small poles. It was a devastating sight as far as one could see. My father could not return that day; he was stalled with numerous other people in their workplaces. The next morning when he came home, he brought the even worse news of about a hundred fishermen getting lost in the calamity. The shore was flooded and water had penetrated well into the city.
Conclusion:
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I felt very sorry for the families of the people who were lost or killed. I prayed to God several times that day, never to punish humanity with a punishment as severe as this.