The soil is baked lifeless by the sun and desiccating winds, and the inhabitants and their blank gaze move at a weary pace. Then, five months later, just when the heat seems unbearable, stifling, the clouds that have been piling up in the distance burst open to disgorge torrential rains. Much to the cries of thanks and hope of the people. Long have they suffered.<\/p>\n
At first the monsoon is celebrated as a deliverance. Children run through the heavy drops and young people dance with proud smiles in the downpour; the stifling, blistering heat is broken and the earth in green profusion. <\/p>\n
But the twisted land, baked hard as concrete, cannot absorb the rivers from the sky. Flash floods strike with sudden swiftness, mercilessly, often sweeping away and drowning scores of people in their muddy tides. Such is the true power of the Storm.<\/p>\n