A month since Wayanad disaster, survivors’ accounts speak of scars that may never heal
Those who lived to tell the tale recount watching friends and family members being swept away, the fury of the water and of their lives becoming a memory.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
At the Meppadi relief camp in Kerala’s Wayanad, a 65-year-old man examined the basic mobile phone that had been handed to him by a rescue volunteer. “Muthachan [grandpa], are you happy?” asked the volunteer, hugging the man’s shoulders. “Got a new phone?”
“Five of my family members have disappeared. I don’t have my home anymore,” said the elderly man, too drained to show emotion. “Where should I go? What should I do now? I don’t know. What will this phone do for me?”
Shivan, a resident of Chooralmala, is among the 2,500 survivors of landslides that struck Wayand district. A downpour triggered landslides in the villages of Punchiri Mattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala on July 30, wreaking devastation in the region. Rainfall of up to 372 mm was recorded in Puthumala nearby on July 30.
At least 420 people were killed, with 118 missing – presumed dead now. According to Kerala’s State Emergency Operational Centre, 231 bodies and 212 body parts were recovered.
Five neighbouring families were swept away in the muddy torrent before Shivan’s eyes. “Our house’s foundation isn’t even visible anymore,” said Sasi. The house where his family of three had built a life, celebrated birthdays, laughed and cried was now just a memory.
A month since the disaster,...
