Bangladesh News

As the storm increased its force across Subidkhali village under Mirzaganj upazila in Patukhali, Afzal decided that it was no longer safe to remain in his house. He and his wife gathered their two children Mukta, 12, and Miraz, 7, in their arms and stepped out to make their way to safety.

In moments the dam over the river Payra broke down as the hurricane escalated, flooding it banks and washing away what most of what was on it. Afzal could only hear his wife screaming. In his efforts to try and reach out for his wife and son, Afzal didn’t realise when the flood gushed away his only daughter from his arms. He saved his own life when he was washed across a tree and managed to hang on to a branch from it.

In nearby Patuakhali upazila’s Auliapur village, Fatema, 45, a housewife all alone at home with her daughter and niece on this black night. As the hours moved on so did the intensity of the hurricane, leaving Fatema no option but to pray to Almighty along with her daughter Asma, aged 18 and niece aged 15. The hours didn’t last for long. As the southern winds unleashed on their village, nearby neighbours only heard a few screams as the roof collapsed on them. Neighbours recovered their bodies much later.