Residents return to their homes after water recedes at a flood-hit village in Orissa. Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, Oct. 3: As life limps back to normal in the flood-affected areas of the state, stories of bravery and survival are beginning to trickle in. The distressing hours also threw up real life heroes who risked their lives and overcame hurdles to help out the distressed.

The place was the construction site of a river bridge in Mahakalpada. It was providential escape for four daily labourers who were perched on pillar for 24 hours. Narrating his experience, Subhash Rajguru said: “It was afternoon hours. We were doing wielding work when the floodwater swamped the project site. We were stranded. For a day, our nightmarish experience went on. Some local residents were adventurous enough to tide across the rough water and rescue us.”

For throwing caution into winds, some of the flood-hit villagers were face to face with death. But they were lucky survivors as many risked their lives to rescue them in the nick of time.

In Narasinghpur village, a family was saved from being washed away as alert villagers forced them to leave the house.

“I had a single-storey pucca house. The flood has completely ravaged the building and now it is reduced to rubbles. I had resolved to stay at the building, as I never thought that the building would cave in. But the villagers thought otherwise. They literally dragged us away from the house to take us to the river embankment. Only because of vigilant neighbours, our family comprising seven members are alive today,” said Parsuram Biswal from Narasinghapur village.

“A huge wall of water suddenly gushed towards us and swept us off our feet. We did not drown because all of us could swim. As there appeared to be little hope, we began to pray. After about 15 minutes, the water slammed us against a giant banyan tree. We clung onto it for eight hours,” said Antaryami Nayak from worst flood-hit Palimi village under Aul block.

We were four persons who were fighting to get out of the death trap. We shouted for help, no one could hear them. At around midnight, we heard human voices and found a boat coming towards them. Four youths in a rickety boat rescued us and offered to take us to our village, which was also marooned, he said.

“I did not know them. They had told us that they were from a neighbouring village. We would have died had the courageous youths not rescued us,” he added.

“Similar tales of bravery are pouring in invariably from all the flood affected pockets. The current flood has so far claimed 23 human lives. The toll would been on a much higher side as courageous people risking their lives to rescue distressed people in worst-hit villages such as Singiri, Aliha, Dahisahi, Bankeswar, Belari, Chandiagadi, Patrapur, Rayaspur, Bharatpur and Bilikana,” said Rudra Narayan Mohanty, district emergency officer.