Toilet was lifesaving refuge from Tauktae for family

Rajula (Amreli): The mud house of Dadu Koli in Chhatadiya village, four km from Rajula town of Amreli, has been completely flattened. The seven-member family has no roof above their head, yet they are not lamenting. Reason: All seven, including three children, saw death up close.
When cyclone Tauktae started roaring into Rajula coast on May 18 night, the Kolis had no inkling about its ferocity. They had witnessed extremely heavy downpour and cyclonic winds and assumed that this too would pass.
However, when the winds gusting at 170kmph started uprooting everything around them, they could only see death in front of their eyes. The roof of their mud house suddenly blew away, compounding their horror. As heavy rain began pounding the area, Koli, his three children, wife and parents first packed themselves beneath the bedstead. But water soon started flooding their house
At around 3am, all seven gushed finally inside a toilet block recently built under the government’s scheme at around 3am. For nearly seven hours, the Koli family remained glued to each other inside this small washroom, which turned out to be a life saviour for them.
The family was in such a deep shock seeing Tauktae’s savagery that they refused to open the toilet door even after the storm had subsided in the morning.
“The hands and legs of my children had swelled as they were clinging to us for nearly seven hours. It was only around 10am that we gathered courage to open the door,” said Koli, a farm labourer.
Koli’s father Naja said “This is the scariest cyclone I have seen in my life. We were a bit scared when winds started blowing hard, but as the speed reduced we got relaxed. Suddenly, the intensity grew so much that all roofs around our house started blowing away.”
His mother Devuben added, “We lost all hope and feared that all of us would die. As a last resort, we rushed inside the toilet and bathroom which was constructed with cement. This ultimately saved our lives.”
Virbhadra Dabhiya, sarpanch of the village said, “Many families did not shift to shelter homes because they did not anticipate such a ferocious cyclone. We tried to evacuate people in vehicles till 11pm on Monday but after that it was not possible as strong winds started blowing.”