Nima Wangdi | Soe

Houses in Jumphu, Soe all look a bit run down, shingle disordered and ready to come off.

A windstorm did it on November 22. The windstorm raged on for two days, the locals say, of the kind they had never witnessed.

Some, who could afford, have repaired their roof. Others remain exposed to the harsh elements of winter. Many are still recovering from the shock.

Jumphu is the first village you arrive at on a journey to Soe Gewog Centre from Shanazam in Paro.

Beyond the gewog centre there is more of them—partially damaged houses.

Pema Om, 25, from Dotabithang lives in a house without roof with her mother and uncle.

“We will fix it soon,” says Pema Om.

On the second day, when the windstorm got worse she quickly locked her house and ran for the nearest forest where she felt safe. She could hear CGI sheets tumbling from her house.

The village Tshogpa came to assessed the damage on Pema Om’s house.

It took four days for Ngawang Jigme from Changmatabsa to get the roof of his house, toilet and store repaired. His brother helped him. “There was little I could salvage from the wreckage.”

Ngawang Jigme applied for the timber permit at the forest office. This takes time. Even the forest office has suffered significant damage. But Ngawang Jigme is determined to build a very strong roof.

Ngawang Gyeltshen, 35, said he had to retrieve CGI sheets from a forest far away.

Mangmi Tshering Dorji said that tshogpas were instructed to assess damages in the villages and submit a report to the gewog. The gewog will evaluate the report and forward it to dzongkhag disaster management division.

He said that windstorms damaged houses every year in Soe.