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Cyclone Sidr: A Child's Account |
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Bangladesh Cyclone Response
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Rika and her family receive a survival relief pack from World Vision Bangladesh national director Vince Edwards.
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Amio James Ascension - WV Bangladesh communicator
When Cyclone Sidr smashed into the home of 11-year-old Rika Haider things were already not going well.
Her father Kalipada, 32, had been furiously working all day in the driving rain in an attempt to batten down their wooden home before the high winds arrived. During this race against time to protect his wife and three girls he caught a chill.
Kalipada said: “During the night, I was feeling so cold and was shivering. I couldn’t sleep. My wife was worried about me and my three daughters.”
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Rika recovers some of her belongings from her cyclone raveged house in Kandi.
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Rika, 11, and her two younger sisters - Tithi, six, Unnoti, one, and her mother Jostna, were also scared.
Rika said: “Deep in the night, when my mother was nursing my father, we were hearing terrible sounds of high winds.”
When Cyclone Sidr struck in all its fury at about 1am on November 16, Rika’s home and that of two neighbours were demolished – ripped apart and tossed into nearby marshland.
“Our house was taken away like a toy, She said. “We found it (later)… but without a roof and wall. My father and mother started screaming, as we were too.
The family then ran for their lives to try to find a safe place to shelter, with Rika screaming as debris flew about.
Rika and her family live in Kandi, a village in a World Vision Bangladesh-programme area in Gopalganj District, southern Bangladesh.
Hundreds of others living in the area are now homeless and have nothing to eat.
By the time the family was holed up inside he was suffering from a terrible fever. But the worst was yet to come.
Go to Bangladesh cyclone webpage
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