Cyclone Mary Ann: Recounting tales of horror, 30 years on

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 29: On April 29, 1991, Cyclone Mary Ann struck southeastern Bangladesh. Winds from the superstorm reached around 220 kmph. The tidal waves rose as high as a palm tree. All making it one of the deadliest tropical superstorms to hit the region since record-keeping began.
The cyclone flattened villages after villages along the country's southeastern coast after making landfall in Chattogram district. An estimated 1.38 lakh people died while millions were rendered homeless in a span of just 12 hours.
Three decades on, memories of the cyclone still remain fresh in the minds of those who witnessed how it devastated the entire region and put a question mark on its geography by washing away several onshore and offshore islands. Large parts of Maheshkhali, Kutubdia, Chakaria, Cox's Bazar Sadar, Ukhia and Teknaf were swept away by the cyclonic storm.
"It was a horrific day. Bodies were lying all over. The smell of death hovered in the air. The 1991 cyclone was indeed a devastating one in the history of our country," recounts Lion Md Giasuddin, member secretary of the Sitakunda Citizen Rights Conservation Council.    -UNB