Cyclone Hudhud: 'No one was ready for the cyclone'

VISAKHAPATNAM: At the break of dawn strong winds were still blowing across Visakhapatnam when I decided to check for myself how Cyclone Hudhud had destroyed the city known to be an impregnable fortress so far.
There was an uneasy calm outside and roads were strewn with uprooted trees and branches everywhere. Many people are still inside, perhaps totally shaken by the ferocity of nature's fury, I reckoned.
With power still not restored, Vizagites have been asking when they will have access to electricity and water. So I decided to investigate and was told nothing can happen by Tuesday as wires have snapped and poles uprooted everywhere.
A few shops opened during the day where serpentine queues were seen, as people were looking to buy whatever edible items they could lay their hands on. I could see that the people were desperate and ready to buy water, shelling out a lot of money. Some shops were selling large cans of water, but even these were running out fast.
At one part of the locality, a few shops were making brisk business selling milk, which seemed to be the most sought after item. There were no fresh vegetables and whatever leftovers the shop owners were in great demand. It was clear that no one was ready for the disaster, a big surprise. No one was prepared and did not stock up enough food items to last the next few days even though everybody knew that a cyclone was around the corner.
At petrol bunks, long queues were reported from morning, but attendants were dispensing roughly about a litre per vehicle. Many people turned up with jerry cans to collect fuel from the pumps, but even the bunks are fast running out of fuel. The availability of diesel seemed a huge problem.
In a curious case, several APSRTC drivers were seen near a bus depot, but with debris yet to be cleared from the streets, there was no way the buses could move. From broken billboards to uprooted tree trunks and poles, the entire city was in a big mess.
While cellphones died soon after the onset of the storm, some old landlines which were independent of electricity, continued to work and many local residents made a beeline to make calls. Some people had cellphone signals, but these were quite erratic through the morning, which improved a little in the afternoon.
A few autos were making rounds, charging exorbitant amounts for trips. A lot of sand had also accumulated on the beach road as well. My city seems to have taken a huge beating.
Apart from a few palm trees, which withstood the ferocity of the strong gales, most trees were flattened. The smaller trees, which were planted roughly about a decade ago, were found broken and mangled. In a few instances, there were trees found dangling off the electric cables. I was extremely distraught at all that I saw.
(As told to TSS Siddharth)