Cyclone Amphan: We were scared to go near the window ..This was different and disturbing... Storm as I saw it from my window

A taxi driver picks up mangoes from the road, unmindful of the devastating cyclone. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta

Cyclone Amphan: We were scared to go near the window  'First I saw the chandelier shaking and then soon, the entire 5000sq ft apartment was literally trembling'

The entire day we were scared about the precarious condition of the window hinges, the construction of the sliding doors and windows.

Nitin Maheswari, TT, 21.05.20, Calcutta: Nitin Maheswari, 43, businessman -Resident of Urbana, 33rd floor, Tower Two-

Initially it was not scary. I can have an almost 360-degree view of the city from my window and it’s a beautiful view. But when this actually started, I was even scared to go near the window.

The windows were shaking and making a rattling sound as if they will burst any moment.

Initially the only damage I could notice was on the roof of the club house.

But gradually we started to understand its impact.

First I saw the chandelier shaking and then soon, the entire 5000sq ft apartment was literally trembling.

In the meantime, I learnt through a WhatsApp message that a false ceiling had come off in one of my neighbour’s apartment on the 37th floor.

Another neighbour, who lives on the 14th floor of our housing complex, shared photographs of his room with a smashed window. It was very scary. I think I was comparatively lucky.

My wife, our son, my 70-year-old mother, who was recently hospitalised, and my uncle and aunt, who had come to visit my ailing mother and got stranded here because of the lockdown forced by the coronavirus, have been staying in the two apartments we have on the 33rd floor.

A car on Central Avenue stuck by the after-effects of Cyclone Amphan on Wednesday evening. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Cyclone Amphan: This was different and disturbing

'It was like you are on a stationary boat in a pond. I felt completely disbalanced as the tower we live in was oscillating for some time'

Amit Sen, TT, 21.05.20, Calcutta: Amit Sen, 54, filmmaker - Resident of South City, 34th and 35th floor

I have been living here for 10 years now. By now we (my wife, my sons and I) have become accustomed to earthquakes.

We have seen the earlier cyclones, too. Somehow, it does not scare me anymore.

But what happened today was different and very disturbing.

It was like you are on a stationary boat in a pond. I felt completely disbalanced as the tower we live in was oscillating for some time.

I have two apartments — on the 34th and 35th floors. The wind-block on the 35th floor succumbed to the air pressure outside and came off its hinges.

A number of my plants were damaged.

My apartment has a beautiful view. It is situated on the top most and southern most point in the housing complex.

I can see the horizon from here. I love to take photographs. But its pitch dark outside now (6.37pm), there is load-shedding in the entire locality.

It looks dangerous. I would not say that I was scared, because I have experienced far worse during earthquakes.

But it was definitely an unsettling feeling when my house was swaying in the wind, on and off.

Earlier we used to live in Golf Green. I would wake up with birds chirping around.

I miss the birds here. But honestly, in terms of the view this apartment offers, I have no regrets — storm or no storm.

A tree and a lamp post at Triangular Park, in south Calcutta, that were felled by Cyclone Amphan on Wednesday. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Storm as I saw it from my window

Wind was like terrifying whistle

Ranjan Basu , TT, Calcutta: Ranjan Basu, 65, a retired chemical engineer - Resident of Rosedale Garden New Town 21st floor

I could feel the windows shaking. Every apartment in the tower has large windows, measuring 9ft in width and 10ft in height. They were vibrating.

The sound of the wind was nothing I have heard before. It was like a terrifying whistle. We were worried that the windows might not hold long enough.p

The entire complex has been without power since 4.30pm and the diesel generators were switched on.

We had stocked up on extra diesel for the generators but were worried how long they would last as the winds showed no sign of relenting.

I have asked all his family members to not get close to the windows. The wind is constantly battering them and although we have a commanding view from our apartment, all we could see outside now is pitch darkness.

Although the wind speeds picked up after 5pm, at 8.30pm the sound of the wind increased manifold.

We have also stocked up on food and I had advised my neighbours to store food and drinking water as we are not sure what the cyclone will leave in its aftermath and when the markets will open.

I, like many other residents, am worried about the parked vehicles and not sure if any was damaged. We heard a few crashes but were not sure if something had landed inside the complex or not.