Cyclone Aila Makes Landfall

The wind was blowing all afternoon, but I didn't hear that a cyclone was bearing down on West Bengal until about 4PM. By that time it had already struck the Indian Sundarbans and was making its way into Bangladesh. At the moment only 7 have died, as the country seems relatively prepared for the weather. However, as Bangladesh is essentially a massive flood plain with very little solid ground, no amount of preparation will spare the thousands of coastal dwellings sure to be uprooted.

So far it sounds like what I can expect in Dhaka is a lot of wind and rain for the next 48 hours. Dhaka is far enough inland that nothing serious will happen, especially not to me in my big concrete building, but the shanty towns and slums will most likely be devastated.

Imagine 80mph hitting THIS

When I originally heard that a cyclone was going to come through here, I was excited. I wanted to experience a monsoon but I just missed it in July and the thought of a massive force of nature on my doorstep made me almost happy. How many times am I going to witness first hand such a viscous impact? However I quickly reminded myself of the 150 million people who would have paltry defense against the impending wind and rain and now I look forward apprehensively to the mess that Dhaka will no doubt become if the storm passes close enough.

On the other hand, I've already been up to my ankles in slaughtered livestock, so a little water and mud will probably be fine.

This is my 100th post on the Dhakamentary, and how appropriate that it document this once and a lifetime experience. Apart from the storm, on which I will update tomorrow, I am caught up in the fact that I leave Dhaka in just 20 days.

Over the next three weeks I will try to pick up the pace on my postings, reflecting on things I will miss and things I will hope to never see again. I may also catch up on postings about my vacations, my involvement in a community play, and some other stuff I've been up to recently (one can hope, anyways).