Anabatic Phailin: First-hand Pictures of Speaking Significance

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

The Government is claiming credit for avoidance of larger loss of human lives because of efficient disaster management. We disagree. Loss of human lives was of small numbers not because of disaster management, but because, the storm Phailin was anabatic in character and was of no sharp flounce on the ground. Because it was anabatic, on the sea and the sea shore, and in the near vicinity of the sea, its flounce was sharp and biting causing devastation to the Gopalpur port and towns and habitations near the sea; but after picking up enough upward motion, it hit only the high trees and structures, which is why human casualties were abysmally small.

We are, in support of our observation, placing below some first-hand pictures that are of speaking significance. As we have said above, anabatic Phailin came up from the sea to pick up upward motion from the ground. In acquiring momentum for surging upward, it devastated the Gopalpur Port. As we intend to tell that story separately, pictures of the havoc Phailin played there are not posted here.

But, here is a picture of two ten-wheeled high-boxed juggernauts that were knocked down together on the highway near Chhatrapur. The gathering of momentum to surge upward was so sharp that these very heavy box lorries could not stand on their wheels.

We give another picture of a knocked down heavy commercial box truck that was also pushed aside by the force of the wind speed on the other side of the two-lane highway at about the same place, occurred almost at the same time.

Mark the picture. An open hovel type kiosk stands unhurt nearby when the box truck is knocked down and pushed out into the roadside. This makes it clear that the Phailin was surging upward and hence the height of the box truck was hit when the kiosk of low height escaped.

The above two pictures show how tips of branches were ripped off when trees of not much height were not uprooted by phailin. The picture below narrates, trees of low height were only denuded of their leaves, but were not uprooted.

It is further noticed that plants of small height stood erect on the ground when the storm passed by hitting the tall coconut plants a few kilometers away from the sea.

Photographer Prasanna Kumar Senapati of Padmini Studio, Cuttack corroborates this observation with his pictorial input. Mark it. Tallest trees have been grounded when dwarf ones stand erect.

So, Phailin was anabatic in character and except the location of its climbing upward, there was no chance of any human being to have its murderous hit.