It was last Wednesday, February 03, 2011 when the Cyclone had hit northeastern state Queensland and Cairns was the most affected city. The city has been damaged and the people are drowned in misery. With flashfloods and abandoned homes the city is a picture of chaos.
Melbourne, on the southernmost tip was affected too when Yasi was retreating. The Cyclone had been so strong that when its tail crossed Melbourne the city was thrown into a whirl of calamity. Trees were blown away, streets flooded and some homes were swamped. Life was affected and people prayed for the Rains to end soon.
Unfortunately I was in the middle of it all and that too out on the roads in my car when the Cyclonic winds had hit the Melbourne city. My husband and I were driving towards Thomas town, a quiet suburb towards a friend’s place when we realized the rains were not going to recede so quickly. I panicked as I could not even see the windscreen with sky pouring rains like crazy. Traffic was stuck and all we could see was the bleeping red lights of the cars around us. Amazingly my husband was not at all perturbed as he laughed and hushed away my decision to return; saying we were already half way from home so returning would mean double trouble. He and his super hero antics are always a refresher.
We managed to drive past the flooded roads and kept moving slowly till we reached our destination. The rains receded and it was a moment of relief for the Melbournians. The next day when the Sun came up we could see the damage the rains had done. The local Municipal Corporation had already sprung into action .The damaged roads and gutters were sealed off and machines had started buzzing the quiet suburbs repairing them early morning. It was encouraging to see people getting back to life and sanity. Some mourned that they would not be able to sleep at their homes again and some grinned that they knew they could bear the storm.
Days are back to normal but I keep thinking of the people affected in Cairns. Several of them are still in community shelter. Children have lost their toys, clothes and playrooms and the elders seem to have lost their world. Houses have been washed away, factories tarnished, cars flown away and trees fallen all over the place. The front page of “The Australian” newspaper showed hundreds of people affected by the catastrophe. Looking at the pictures I could see their sad stories, the pictures were so touching that I felt I could hug them all and wrap them safe and sound.
I wish I could do something that would lessen their pain, something that could bring the silver lining back to their days again. I prayed and I encourage all my readers to pray for every soul on this planet. Imagine the Billions of “Blessings” it would bring back to you from God if each one did the same.
SWETA LAL is a Melbourne-based consultant and author. An engineer-turned-writer, she is passionately following this profession as a freelancer. Her works include poetry, non-fiction and children’s stories.
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