2014 News - Tropical Cyclone Hudhud Hits Grace Children's Home
In mid October 2014, the Grace Children’s Home was devastated by
the cyclonic storm, Hudhud which hit the east coast of India.
The cyclone caused at least 24 deaths in Andhra Pradesh and
early estimates put total damage costs at 100 billion rupees
(over one billion pounds sterling). Visag, which was practically
torn down by the 200kmph wind speed, lost 80% of its green
cover. Electricity and phone lines were affected and the city's
airport was shut down for repairs because its roof was blown
off. The rural areas of Andhra Pradesh suffered major crop
damage and 500,000 people in Andhra Pradesh, had to be evacuated
and put up in relief camps.
Visakhapatnam is the nearest large city to Grace Children’s
Home, and the cyclone caused a lot of damage there too.
Thankfully, in spite of the devastation, no one was hurt.
However, some of the windows in both the Children’s Home and the
staff workers’ flats were blown in and the solar panels, put in
not long ago to make the electricity supply more efficient, were
ripped from the roof, leaving the buildings open to the
elements. Gas bottles for cooking were lost, the water supply
was affected and the children’s playground was submerged in
water resulting in some of the equipment being either lost or
damaged.
Many of the trees around the land were uprooted, and some of
them were blown onto the newly finished wall causing damage. Not
long after the GCH opened, teak trees were planted around the
land. These particular trees take about 30 years to mature, and
the intention was that they would eventually be harvested and
sold, but some of the teak trees were also uprooted in the
cyclone and the crops were flattened by the winds. The water
buffalo and their housing escaped major damage, apart from one
baby buffalo, which lost its life. The school was closed for a
few days.
The Home was built especially to withstand cyclonic weather, and
the foundations and concrete structure were designed originally
for the worst possible weather situations. The buildings
themselves were not damaged, so they certainly passed the test!
Timothy Babu, who oversees Grace Children’s Home, said that he
could not remember the weather ever being so bad in his
lifetime. Although the damage is peripheral, it is still
devastating and the restoration work will take some time. Money
was sent out straight away to begin the restoration work, and
the charity’s supporters responded with amazing generosity,
sending funds to pay for the restoration of buildings and
cleaning up work. The pictures here show the damage caused. Ray
Richardson, the chairman is visiting the land in November, and
we will post more pictures when he returns.
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