...Sunday early morning we were finishing night duty shift, when water started entering our duty room at SMHS hospital Srinagar, Kashmir
Few medical personnel lifted the movable machinery on the beds with the hope to save them. Little did we know what is coming next...
Few medical personnel lifted the movable machinery on the beds with the hope to save them. Little did we know what is coming next...
... We walked though the rising deluge and reached our hostel building across the road. The water was steadily rising, our cars were sinking....
...Suddenly electricity went off, soon the phones became dead and internet stopped. Local radio, FM and TV went off the air. By noon there was a complete communication blackout....
...we along with our families remained trapped in the building. On day 2 some helicopters were hovering over. Few people trapped in hospital building climbed on the roof top and waved to the helicopters. Later we learnt the helicopters evacuated men from an adjacent barrack...
...Water taps dried, milk was finishing, food in the electricity-less fridges started stinging.
Meanwhile local people and NGOs started evacuation. Some patients were evacuated on stretchers in the boats....
Meanwhile local people and NGOs started evacuation. Some patients were evacuated on stretchers in the boats....
... Day 4 Wednesday morning , @Athrout_Kashmir volunteers came in a boat and started evacuation from hostel building. Thanks to them, I along with my wife and then 11 months daughter left the building in the afternoon...
...We disembarked near Shah-mohalla where 3 wheeler load carriers were volunteering to pick up patients and doctors to be shifted to Soura.
Families and friends living outside Kashmir were worried for their dear ones back home. There was absolutely no means of communication...
Families and friends living outside Kashmir were worried for their dear ones back home. There was absolutely no means of communication...
...4 days trapped in the hostel building, 1 day spent at soura and 2 days in Ganderbal, finally I met my father near Kangan who was searching for us amid the communication blackout. Lucky, after a brief wait on the road side we got a sumo taxi...
By now Petrol stations had turned dry. No supplies were expected soon. The vehicle had little fuel left, but he agreed and dropped us in Bandipora. Thereafter we got into another vehicle and in the night we reached home in Sopore. It was Saturday night. A complete week had passed
Majority of the hospital equipment was devastated- MRI, CT scan, OT equipment, lasers, laparoscopes, ventilators, microscopes among others. The damage was beyond repair.
The scenes of flood are etched in our memories. May God bless us.
The scenes of flood are etched in our memories. May God bless us.
