"At Bykunthpore, for about a quarter mile, not a house, hut nor
tree escaped the violence of the storm; in fact everything that opposed
its progress was leveled to the ground. Coconut and date trees were twisted
out of the ground and thrown to a distance of 2-300ft. Chowbagan
and Sambandal were hard hit. A slight bamboo was projected horizontally
through a raised tile walk., which pierced through the whole breadth—5
feet thick, breaking the tile on both sides. In other villages the visitation
has been aweful indeed, but in other places it surpasses all description.
As far as the eye could reach, not a house could be seen. The grass ( I
am at a loss to account for it) has been consumed, and the choppers[frames]
of houses have vanished as if they were mere vapor. Fisherman on
the lake returned to their demolished village, with only a few left to
account for the occurrence. There was little rain but a severe fall of
hail. Hail was measured at 3.5 lbs at the Dum Dum weather observatory near
Calcutta. “It appeared to have been remarkable for its slow rate of progress(16
miles in 2 to 3 hours), and it is to this, perhaps, that its unusual destructiveness
can be ascribed. A peepul tree, which had been standing time out of mind,
and to the knowledge of the older inhabitants had never lost a bough, was
the first that fell. The circle from whence the roots sprung, was 35 feet
in diameter, and these being of extraordinary length, caused
the earth to come away from the tree, and to leave a chasm of about 38
feet in width and 14 feet in depth; most of its stouter branches were wrenched
off, and thrown into an adjoining tank, at such a distance to prove the
extraordinary violence with which the tree was assailed. The bark
of palm trees has been peeled off as with a knife. The villages of Sambandal
and Chowbagan have been laid desolate; men, women, and children,
as well as animals have died without number."
Floyd, J., 1838: Account of the hurricane or whirlwind of the 8th April
1838. Amer. Jour. Sci. 36, 71-75. Abridged from the India Review
and Journal of Foreign Science and Arts for July, 1838.