A devastating tornado had hit a few villages in the Keonjhar of Odisha on April 16, 1978 on today’s date. Puruna Bandhagoda village was the most hit one in this tornado. It reportedly killed hundreds of people from a few villages of the district while the death toll also includes more than 500 animals.
On 16th April 1978 in the Puruna Bandha Goda village in the afternoon the villagers, most of whom are farmers were taking rest in their houses. Some other people were playing cards on the verandah while some kids and teens were trying to pluck mangoes in the orchard when the tornado started at the foothills of the Dhanei hills.
Later, the sky turned vermillion red, and a patch of cloud from the sky took the shape of a tornado and reached their village. The tornado battered everything that came on its way. Now everything stopped for a while and after some time another tornado started. It smashed everything. It cracked the houses, tossed the trees and killed people as well as animals.
It is said the portion of the Dhanei hill, stripped bare of plants and trees and the whole green cover disappeared within minutes. Now, reportedly, it was seen that dead bodies were fallen here and there.
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Ms Kalinga