Every cyclone in tamil Nadu comes with two tragedies: one natural, one man-made. Cyclone Ditwah, drifting along the coastline with heavy rains and red alerts, once again exposes a truth that india refuses to acknowledge — storms may be natural disasters, but suffering follows a predictable social pattern.
In fishing hamlets, huts stand exposed like fragile matchboxes as winds pick up speed. Boats worth lakhs lie tied to wooden poles, praying they do not snap. For slum dwellers in chennai or Cuddalore, the fear is not just of water entering their homes but of not having a home left when the storm passes. While middle-class families worry about power cuts and blocked roads, the poor worry about survival.
The IMD has issued warnings: extremely heavy rainfall in isolated areas, flooding risks, strong winds. But warnings don’t help those who cannot evacuate. Many daily-wage workers cannot afford to lose a day’s income, even when the sea rages behind them. Cyclone shelters exist, but they are overcrowded and under-equipped. The inequality is not in nature’s fury — it is in the response.
Year after year, storms hit the same communities the hardest. Yet rehabilitation remains temporary. After every cyclone, promises pour in, only to evaporate once the rains stop. Ditwah, with its parallel movement, prolongs the misery further. The rainfall may last for days, trapping coastal families with no electricity, limited drinking water, and no income.
This cyclone reveals a bigger truth: india prepares for storms, but never for the people who suffer most. As Ditwah moves along the coast, we are once again reminded that the real disaster isn’t the weather — it is the predictable neglect of the vulnerable.
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