One of the worst cyclones of the century hit India that night, devastating a 150-kilometer stretch of the coast in eastern Orissa state. Waves washed away highways and railway embankments, leaving tracks hanging in the air. Winds up to 260 kilometers per hour snapped telephone and electric poles, plunging a region of 35 million people into darkness. Even the chief minister could not find a phone to call for help. By late last week nearly 1,100 bodies had been cremated, many in mass funerals as dry wood was increasingly hard to find.
Water blanketed the flat countryside. More than 7 million people were marooned on high points of land, alongside snakes crawling out of the flood. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee sent in troops to help. Hungry people began looting relief trucks and helicopters. Panicked state officials fled their posts. Relief workers fear an outbreak of malaria, gastroenteritis, cholera and snakebites. Authorities guess the body count could top 10,000, but they likely will never know how many were swept out to sea.
