On the phone: Only cries of helplessness

Cyclone Amphan has flooded and devastated the coastal areas of Bangladesh. While most of the people affected by the cyclone are those living in the coastal belt, the miseries of people living in char areas are beyond anything we may have ever heard of.

"Brother, we may die. Please pray for us," Md Salam, a member of Chandradeep union parishad under Patuakhali's Bauphal upazila, said before the call ended.

Salam was crying the whole time. The only thing they could do during the cyclone was to pray louder and louder and cry.

Kalam Mia, a resident of Char Patila of Bhola's Char Fasson, received the phone call and just cried.

He couldn't say anything to this correspondent. The only sound that came over the phone was, "Allah amader bachao (Allah save us)."

Another resident of Dhal Char Union under Charfession upazila Md Salahuddin said that they have lost all hopes of being alive. 

"We are surrounded by water. We will die if the water level continues to increase. I never saw a tide this high in my life," he said.

This correspondent called five individuals living in the char areas when the cyclone was crossing the coastal region. But none of them could talk properly. 

After the cyclone was gone, people of different char areas said most of the houses had been devastated due to the flood. The people living in those houses had taken shelter on high land.