Typhons and Cyclones

The weather in India is always fairly dramatic, sun that’s relentless or rains that flood during monsoon. However, the climate would certainly seem to be changing as showers (a phenomenon more natural to the UK) have been occurring with some regularity over the last few years. Big wind has also come and within 2 weeks India has seen two dramatic cyclones. CycloneTautae made landfall in Goa and Mumbai where barges were caught out at sea and 77 people were missing. Certainly 19 people died, and the cyclone then changed direction and made landfall again in Gujarat state. Winds have ravaged these areas with electricity poles and trees being toppled. The storm has hit during the ongoing second wave of coronavirus in India and hampered some of the efforts to help locals with food relief. The cyclone weakened but brought wind and rain to Rajasthan and the Bhopa villages. One of the mitti houses sustained damage as the clay mitti came off in chunks from one of the mud houses Bhopa village had only just recently repaired and made more secure. Tauktae was the strongest cyclone to hit Gujarat since 1998.

This week, The village of chawandiya, Rajasthan, was also shaken when wind and rain ripped metal rooftops from the sides of buildings and broke some concrete buildings with debris and broken trees strewn all over the village. Luckily people were inside their structures and nobody suffered injury. Heavy rains (out of season) were also responsible for poor electricity connections and hardship faced on top of the Lockdowns. Bhilwara, Rajasthan recorded maximum of 50mm of rain. Cyclone Tauktae weakened over Udaipur last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, millions of people have been evacuated from Orissa and neighbouring West Bengal as Cyclone Yass slammed into the west coast of India.

The food relief program has progressed nonetheless and Bhopa village is now feeding some 98 families comprising 4 Bhopa villages (Sunset Point, Mortisa, Chawandyia and the railway tracks near Pushkar) but it has caused problems for the housing situation generally, with plastic tent houses blowing down, rain drenching the contents of the grass houses and breaking some mud houses with the sheer force of the storm.

Bhopa village is currently running a Go Fund Me campaign (https://gf.me/u/zrjffz) to raise the funds needed to sustain the food programme. However, we will be aiming to assist the villagers’, when possible, to repair and make their homes more secure as the Monsoon is not far off either. No donation is too small. We respectfully request your assistance at this challenging time. The smiles of the village show how needed the food currently is and how far your support goes.