In a remarkable story of endurance, a man swept away by the Pochara River’s floodwaters was rescued on Tuesday after surviving for five days by clinging to a palm tree in Odisha’s Bhadrak district, officials said.
The survivor, identified as Sunanda Behera from Balipatana under the Arjunpur Gram Panchayat of Dhamnagar block, was swept away by the surging floodwaters. Despite desperate search efforts initiated by local villagers, no trace of him was found for the past few days
Hope for his survival was nearly lost until some villagers travelling by a boat through the flooded Bajapati field area spotted a man clinging to a palm tree surrounded by deep water. They were astonished to discover it was Behera.
The villagers promptly alerted the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team, which arrived at the spot and launched a challenging rescue effort through the strong currents.
Following a challenging operation, the rescuers safely managed to pull Behera, who was found in a state of severe exhaustion and weakness after enduring five days without food while clinging to the palm tree.
“His hands and legs were trembling when rescuers brought him ashore. The ordeal had left him severely debilitated,” ODRAF personnel said.
Behera was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors immediately administered emergency treatment, assessing his condition as critical.
In a related update, IG UK Dash of the Odisha Fire & Emergency Service reported that approximately 1,000 people and 150 livestock have been rescued from floodwaters so far.
As many as 125 teams of firefighters were engaged in rescue and relief operations across six flood-hit districts, he said.
