Team Herald
Panjim: The monsoon’s last, lingering embrace is proving to be a bear hug that Goans hadn’t signed up for. Had the rains followed established protocol, the dark clouds would have thinned out and disappeared by October 14, the official date on which monsoon recedes from Goa, according to the Met office. But what the State got instead over the past two weeks was thunder, lightning, waterlogging, and over 150 mm rain – the works.
Life, as a result, has been thrown out of gear everywhere. “It’s sunny, and then suddenly it starts pouring. Both my mother and sister have taken ill. If you see that it’s sunny outside, you don’t think of taking an umbrella or a raincoat. And then a sudden shower leaves you drenched,” said Sonia Fernandes, who owns a retail outlet in Panjim.
For Victor Fernandes, who retails clothes including rain wear, the inclement weather means that he has sold more umbrellas and raincoats recently. “But I’m fed up with the unseasonal rain. The Met says monsoon has withdrawn from the country, but there is thunder, lightning and rain.”
The rains have had a big impact on holidayers’ schedules, who start making a beeline for the State as soon as it’s October and the tourist season is officially thrown open. Shivam Verma, who has come with his friends from Indore, said, “I was surprised by the rains. We were carrying rain wear, but didn’t think that we’d have to use it, but the rains had other plans for us.” You could blame it on bad luck – or climate change!