Cyclone Tauktae fury as trees smash roofs and tanks in Goa

The wind howling through the trees is the omnipresent sound that you hear when you talk to loved ones on the phone in Goa ldquoThat and maybe when they tell you yet another tree has crashedrdquo said Mumbairsquos Freddie Vaz who has family based in Nuvem Fatorda and Aquem Alto off MargaoldquoRain has been lashing through but it is the wind that is causing the most damagerdquo said Vaz about his family conversations ldquoMy uncle who is 85 plus living in Goa said he has never seen wind like he has these past two days And believe me he has seen storms aplenty in Goardquo said VazFamily members told Vaz through the weekends at night especially the claps of thunder were truly ominous ldquoIt was terrifying for the family They said there was a pattern a series of thunderclaps then a fiveminute break then again claps of thunder punctuated by a fiveminute break it went on relentlessly through the nightrdquo As thunder was all around them the wind took on an eerie sound ldquoLike howling banshees my family said they shut all the windows just to keep that sound outrdquoAlso Read Cyclone Tauktae warning extended for 48 hours for Mumbai ThaneSome neighbouring cottages of the family have felt the full brunt of trees falling on rooftops they have scythed through certain homes around Vaz said ldquobut my familyrsquos home has not suffered that damage They did however see a roof simply lift off a home and fly through the wind in an incident which could be fatal had it landed on somebodyrdquo Now though like most if not all Vaz who is Bandrabased said his cousins in Goa are without electricity ldquoa situation that they are quite used to They have electric lamps and that is fine in the day It is the nights that are very trying with no electricity when it gets unbearably hotrdquoKenneth Dias 35 has brought his parents from their home in Panjim which has suffered damage from uprooted trees to his home just a couple of minutes away in Alto Santa Cruz Said Dias ldquoIt is not that trees are breaking They are simply being uprooted straight up from the ground so that gives you some idea of the force of the windrdquo Dias said his parentsrsquo home ldquohas suffered considerable damage jackfruit trees coconut trees the most resistant and mango trees have fallen They have smashed our overhead water tank so along with electricity there is no waterrdquoDias claimed that most of Goarsquos electricity cables are above the ground ldquoWe should have them underground this has been going on since years still we have them above They snap when the trees fall on them and the result is no power in the day no light in the evenings Officials should have learnt from the past and work should have been done on the cables earlierrdquo finished Dias adding that trees are not being pruned regularly through the years echoing the frustration of localsJ Fernandes in Colva claimed ldquoSeveral tree falls have blocked crossroads They will eventually be cleared but I cannot help thinking this is going to lead to massive delays in case anybody needs medical help where time is vital during this outbreakrdquo