Haunting memories of the ‘91 cyclone in Chattogram

Thirty years have elapsed since the horrific and devastating cyclonic storm and tidal surge that hit the country's southeastern coastal region on 29 April in 1991. 

People of the country's entire coastal belt, especially the Anwara, Sitakund, Mirsharai, and Sandwip upazilas of Chattogram are still  haunted by frightening memories of the fateful night the cyclone hit, leaving around 1.38 lakh people dead.

It also did property damage of over Tk5,000 crore.

As much as 1 crore people were left homeless overnight as the nearly 250 km/h winds simply blew them away.

Even after 30 years, the survivors and relatives of the deceased cannot forget the deadly cyclone that devastated the country's entire coastal belt.

Looking back at memories of the destructive cyclone, Shamsul Islam, general secretary of Chittagong Union of Journalists, said, "My life could have ended 30 years ago when the cyclone devastated our entire Anwara upazila. I saw death up close on that fateful night."

"On that night, 16 people from three families, including three of my relatives, lost their lives in our home," he recalled.   

The highest cyclone winds that hit the country's coastal belt in 1991 were 250 km/h hour. The tidal surge caused by the cyclone was nearly 20 feet high.

Around 20 lakh of livestock were also left dead by the cyclone.