In an eerie twist of fate, a story penned by a young student has become a haunting reality for the village of Chooralmala, Kerala.

Last year, Class 8 student Laya wrote a chilling tale for her school magazine at the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School (GVHSS) in Vellarmala.

Her story depicted a girl who drowns in a waterfall, only to return as a bird to warn her village of impending danger. In the story, the bird's desperate plea—“Children, escape from here. It’s dangerous up ahead”—leads the villagers to flee just in time to see the hill overflow with rainwater. The bird then transforms into a girl, sacrificing herself to save her people.

Tragically, this fictional warning mirrored the real-life catastrophe that struck Chooralmala this week. Massive landslides have devastated the region, claiming hundreds of lives, including that of Laya’s father, Lenin.

The twin landslides in Wayanad have left a trail of massive devastation, claiming the lives of 358 people so far and hundreds more missing.

The GVHSS Vellarmala, where Laya once studied, now stands in ruins. The river, once a serene backdrop to the school’s expansive grounds, has surged into classrooms, leaving the educational institution in disrepair.

The devastation is felt deeply among the staff and students; 32 of the school’s 497 students are among the deceased, with two students losing their entire families.

Headmaster V. Unnikrishnan and his team narrowly escaped disaster. Fearing a landslide, they had sought refuge at the school during heavy rains but returned home just before the calamity struck.

“If we had stayed, we would have perished,” The Indian Express quoted Unnikrishnan, who reminisced about the vibrant community of Chooralmala, once a hub of cardamom and tea plantation workers, now swept away in seconds.

The immediate task for Unnikrishnan and his colleagues is to help their students navigate through the trauma and disruption.

“Many are in shock over the loss of their friends,” The Indian Express reported, quoting Rejin, a Class 12 teacher, who emphasised the need for alternative arrangements for the affected students.

In nearby Mundakkai, the situation is equally dire. The government lower primary school there has reported 11 missing students. The village is cut off from the outside world, with rescue efforts hindered by the absence of a bridge.

Headmistress Mercy Thomas expressed the school’s distress, “The condition of the school building is unknown, and we cannot reach the village due to the damaged infrastructure.”

The grim task of recovering and identifying the dead continues, with rescue workers having retrieved 92 body parts from the Chaliyar River and conducted 252 post-mortems.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that all survivors have been rescued. The focus now shifts to body recovery and managing the immense destruction, which includes 348 damaged buildings.

In response to the crisis, the Karnataka government has pledged to assist with additional freezers for storing unidentified bodies, highlighting the collaborative efforts required to address the aftermath of this disaster.

As Chooralmala and its neighboring villages grapple with the enormity of their loss, the tale that once served as a cautionary fable now stands as a poignant reminder of the unpredictability of nature’s wrath.

Meanwhile, a chopper carrying Indian Air Force personnel has landed at Chooralmala in Wayanad, and it has been kept on standby.

The devastation of Wayanad should be a wake-up call for all, and we must stay prepared for many more such disasters in the future if we don't stop abusing nature right away.

ALSO READ| Flood Woes Of Guwahati: Whom To Blame, Whom To Not?