It was afternoon in MysticLand. Verum was doing something she shouldn’t – take a nice long nap. She still had a ton of homework to complete. But when a yawn escaped from her mouth and her eyes responded by drooping, there wasn’t much she could do.
And as always, Verum had a strange dream. She dreamt of a world in which the glaciers had melted. Water levels had risen – in fact, there was water everywhere. That wasn’t the strange part. Verum was surfing to an unknown destination.
She woke up with a start. The image of the world covered by water was scary. But then, she picked herself up and began giggling softly. Verum whispered to herself, “But I don’t even know how to surf!”
Force of habit made her turn towards her crystal ball. Sure enough, it was humming softly. Verum tip-toed towards it and tried to understand the news.
“What is the news?” said Scorch loudly as she entered the room. A startled Verum nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Heavy rainfall has caused flooding in South India,” said Verum, “The rainfall began last week. It has damaged roads and houses in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.”
“Oh, no,” said Scorch with a worried expression, “There have been numerous floods in India this year.”
“Yeah, a cyclonic circulation in the Arabian Sea to the West and low-pressure areas in the Bay of Bengal to the East led to these floods,” remarked Verum, “As for the current floods, at least three people have lost their lives while dozens are missing.
In Andhra Pradesh, flash floods led to submerged roads and highways. Access to villages has been cut off too, depriving the villagers of food and water. Along with this, a building collapsed in Kadiri, a town in the Anantapuramu district. Earlier this week, the situation in the religious town of Tirupati was serious.”
“That sounds worrying,” said Scorch, “What about Tamil Nadu and Karnataka?”
“Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai and Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru both experienced flooding. So did the Union Territory of Puducherry,” said Verum, “But the Indian Air Force, National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF), police and fire services personnel have joined hands to provide flood relief and carry out rescue efforts.”
“Hope the situation improves soon,” said Scorch.