On the 12th of October 2014, the city of Visakhapatanam along with its neighbouring coastal villages in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India witnessed a climate catastrophe of an unimaginable scale Cyclone Hudhud with wind speeds close to 220kmph ransacked the entire landscape of the city leaving people homeless and stranded.
The Visakhapatanam district administration claims 13-lakh families to have been affected in and around the city along with a loss of 800-odd hectares of green cover in the city alone. The report further classifies this data by stating infrastructural damages running into several thousand crores and the total number of damaged houses adding up to more than 90,000.
I was commissioned by Greenpeace India to travel with their researcher Aishwarya Madineni to document the aftermath of the cyclone in Visakhapatnam and Bheemunipatnam (Bhimili).
Twisted blades of a fan inside Qasim Sher Basha’s house in Savitri Nagar, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The asbestos roof that covered their house had been blown away by the winds that accompanied Cyclone Hudud as it made landfall.
Dharmana Umamahesh (25) and Kommanapalli Eswara Rao (43) fix asbestos roof on Chapa Varalakshmi’s house in Savitri Nagar, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
A resident at Gandhi Nagar slum in Kancharapalem, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
A woman carries water at Gandhi Nagar slum in Kancharapalem, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Bosati Suribabu (68) poses for a portrait in front of his home damaged by Cyclone Hudhud at Gandhi Nagar slum in Kancharapalem, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Climate change washes off Hudhud in India: Aishwarya Madineni’s blogpost on Greenpeace India.
Broken link roads to fishermen villages,Boya Veedhi, Bheemilipatanam.
Bonga Parvathi, wife of fisherman and a resident of Boya Veedhi in Bheemilipatnam.
Seeram Gurranna (40) repairs his nets on the beach at Bheemunipatnam (Bhimili), near Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Fishermen carry nets to their boat at Bheemunipatnam (Bhimili), near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Kasarapu Sattiraju (38) photographed on the beach at Bheemunipatnam (Bhimili), near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Fishing boats at Bheemunipatnam (Bhimili), near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Fishermen left marooned – Hudhud Aftermath: Aishwarya Madineni’s blogpost on Greenpeace India.
