Renovation work at Atelier Shanti
Packing winds of up to 140 k/m per hour, the cyclone “THANE” struck the east coast on Friday between Cuddalore in Tamilnadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry, before tearing inland, leaving a trail of destruction.
One Frenchman named Pascal was among the 8 people killed in Pondicherry. The father of one of our sponsored girls was one among the others who died due to a wall collapse. The total death toll in Pondicherry and the districts of Cuddalore and Villupuram of Tamilnadu is 42. Most of the deaths occurred due to electrocution and walls collapsing. Almost all the roads were blocked due to the falling of trees.
There was no electricity in Pondy for a couple of days, since the 29th December night. Heavy rains poured and stormy wind started to blow from around 10 pm of 29th December. The wind force was gradually increasing and was at its peak during the early hours of 30th December between 4 am to 9 am. It started to subside on 30th December afternoon, leaving fear in the minds of the local people.
It is estimated that more than 1.7 lakhs trees were uprooted in the Pondicherry region alone. This counts to 70 % of the trees of the region. Thousands of electrical and telephone poles and cell phone towers were lying flat on the ground.
It was estimated that 86000 huts and semi-permanent structures were damaged in Pondicherry. An estimated 17000 hectares of agricultural land including paddy, plantain, sugarcane, casurina, betel leaves and coconut trees were destroyed. 124 electric transformers were damaged. Apart from this, there has been considerable loss of cattle and livestock.
Adding to the havoc caused by the cyclone, the people of Pondicherry had a sleepless night on Jan. 1st night due to the rumour of a possible earthquake. Most of the people of Pondicherry, Cuddalore and Villupuram districts came out of the houses and on to the streets and stayed up all night.
Volontariat also suffered considerable damage due to the high velocity wind and rains. Please read in our Website, French version.
