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Barguna, Nov 19 (bdprem.com) – Four-year-old Meem only stares blank, the fight to survive storm Sidr has dumbfounded her. She has not talked since Thursday night when she clung on to dear life all alone as the super cyclone ripped through Aamtoly. Meem has seen it all on the night of Nov 15, the roaring waters washing away everything around her. She watched even her mother die. "We along with 10-12 other families took refuge in a house. The winds started to intensify at about 8pm. But we had to flee (the house) as the water was about to cross over the dam on the river Payra at about 10 in the night," her father Md Ferdous Dafadar said Sunday. He, his wife Hawa Bibi and Meem were out in the open again, running for safety. "But we were submerged by 5-foot high water as soon as we had reached the sluice gate. The soil over there was eroding due to the tidal waves. Somehow, I managed to reach the college (cyclone shelter). But I had no idea where Meem and her mother were," Dafadar said. One Jasimuddin from the same area said that like scores of other families, Meem's family had also taken refuge in his house. "When the water rose to about five feet, everyone started running for their lives. Meem and her mother were washed away through the Basuki canal. "Meem survived by holding on to a chowki (wooden cot) floating beside them. Local people found her under a far-away bridge when the storm was over hours later. "The mother was found dead under the chowki which Meem was holding on to. Since then she (Meem) hasn't talked," said Jasimuddin. A couple of other families living in the area also courted tragedy—six died while running for cover when part of the am collapsed. The Basuki canal haunts the local people. The storm also left 8-year old Tanjila and 10-year old Jasim killed. Their grandfather Joynal Gazi, receiving treatment at the upazila health complex, was in grief. When asked why they did not leave despite the warnings, Joynal said they did not realise that it would be so devastating. "We didn't leave our home when the wind started to whip. At about 10 in the night my son Mainul went over to the dam and told us to flee as it was about to be overflown. "Afterwards we gathered at the college (cyclone shelter). We could not even walk for the tides. My grandchildren were with my wife. All of my family has been washed away. I don't know how I survived. "Later I found my wife in the higher area of the embankment, but the grandchildren were missing. They were found dead in the canal after two days." Every other family in the cyclone-struck Aamtoly had a tragedy or two to tell. The stench of death from bloated corpses of livestock and people were still heavy. Another body was discovered in the Basuki canal on Sunday morning. Asked about the situation, upazila executive officer (UNO) Abu Naeem Md Abdus Sobur said, "I have nothing to say. Go ahead and see for yourself." He said the death count for Aamtoly was over 200 until Sunday and about 500 people were reported missing. Naeem said about 20-25 percent houses in the area had been wiped out completely. "Most of the trees are uprooted. Eighty percent of the Aman crop and most of the vegetable farms are fully damaged. No families were left unharmed." Upazila health officer Dr Ashit Baran Biswas who has been living for long in the area could not say whether the death toll was lower than that of the 1991 cyclone. "I have seen disasters in this area starting from the floods of 1965. I have seen the cyclones of 1970 and 1991. But none of the storm acted so suspicious. "Gusty winds start blowing hours before big storms. But this time it was not so and that's why local people had doubt about the devastation of the storm." Dr Biswas said that they had been sending people to different areas to asses the damages and count the missing and that it would take a week to finish. Only then could the death count be confirmed, he added. "We don't know anything about areas like Hashar Chor, Behular Chor yet. Water-borne diseases would break out within 3-4 days. It would be very difficult to face the disaster then." They have already asked for relief materials and medical supplies, he added. Relief operations have started with civil administration distributing rice and dry food among the inhabitants. Organisations like BRAC and Save the Children are also running aid operations. UNO Naeem put slow relief activities down to snapped road communications with the upazila headquarters as the ferry landing facility had been washed away.