Good Samaritans help those affected by Cyclone Tauktae

Here is how villagers got together to help out after the cyclone hit Goa – from clearing roads after trees were uprooted to distributing free roof tiles, to even repairing homes for free. These acts of humanity restore faith in people again.

NGOs, locals help in rebuilding animal shelter
Bruno Wagner de Padua Pereira’s shelter – Halfway Home – in Mandrem came crashing down after the cyclone. Lucky for him, since the roof was leaking a bit before the crash, he had decided to shelter his 28 dogs in his room. “There have been a few people who have come forward to help me with supplies. A team from

Mission Rabies

came to help remove the tree and the rubble and a team from WVS came to put up the fence. I’ve received some dog food and dry bed linen,” says Bruno.
Janie the founder of ARC (Animal Rescue Centre) in Canacona, too, had Samaritans help her and her pets. “All three areas outdoors are in ruins, so we had to move all animals into one area till we could fix it. Mission Rabies sent a rescue team to help us and a few volunteer came to help,” says Janie.

Mapusekars help protect homes from bad weather

Homes in Mapusa being repaired

“We have helped around seven homes after the cyclonic winds and uprooted trees damaged people’s houses in Mapusa. We have tried to restore as many houses as we can, locals also got together to help,” says Raymond D’Souza from Mapusa. His friend and neighbour Zelio Lobo, a chef by profession, too helped out. “It was our duty to help out people and this was the time. It’s difficult to find places that sell tarpaulin at this time. We managed to get most of it. Some homes have been badly damaged,” says Raymond.
Giving out free tiles to fix people’s damaged roofs

Free tiles for those who damaged their roof

Davorlim based

Menino Fernandes

and his friend, Sansico Dias, decided to give away free roof tiles to people whose homes were damaged by the cyclone. “We have recently re-modelled our house and there were a lot of tiles that were removed and were not in use,” says Menino. After the cyclone hit, social media was filled with a lot of pictures and videos of people’s houses being damaged. Menino decided that it would be good to give away the tiles to those who needed it the most at this time. “I have given away tiles to people in Caranzalem, Mapusa, Aldona and some in Margao too,” he said.
Panaji

JCB

operator gives free service to locals

Tejavardhan Kinnera, who owns seven JCBs, realised that he couldn’t travel as there were uprooted trees all over. So instead of waiting for the departments to remove them, he sent out his JCBs to get them cleared. “There were big oak trees, mango, coconut trees and others on the roads. One would need a lot of manpower to remove them. One cannot stay at home and not help during such times. I sent the vehicles in and around Panaji and Bambolim. I believe that helping people in times of distress is important,” says Tejavardhan.

Villagers chop off trees to clear roads for ambulances

As Rosevelt Rodrigues from

Cavelossim

says, “Every storm is followed by a rainbow and the rainbow in our village was the collective effort of residents who took the initiative to clear the roads blocked by trees and electric posts felled by the cyclone.” The village bore the brunt of Tauktae’s fury. “It was a spontaneous act, we called each other and everyone was ready. We have

COVID

positive patients in the village too, so distributing food and medication would become problematic, if the trees were not cleared,” says Rosevelt.