I put off my normal Wednesday visit to the girls home this week due to early afternoon showers which I feared could turn into heavier rain. Nope. I still am not completely accustomed to the idea that we don't go anywhere when it rains. It's like a big snowstorm back home.
So, yesterday (Thursday) with clear blue skies, I set off for my visit to the girls. After being there for about 30 minutes, I sat down with a few girls doing each other's hair. Amongst the chatter, one of the girls points out to me that it was beginning to rain. Immediately, I began saying goodbye to them all, still feeling a bit out of sorts insisting I must go as the skies above the girls' home was still sunny while the rain began to fall. The view over the mountain I was heading toward, however was nothing but one huge gray mass.
The biggest problem with being at the girls home when it rains isn't what happens at their house or ours, it's what happens on the roads in between. These back roads at the top of large hills create streams and rivers carrying dirt, rocks, debris, trash and who knows what else. Last year, after 4 days of heavy rain, I drove to the girls home to find someone's property gate had been carried away. At the bottom of this runoff, the roads quickly flood and become impassible.
As I made my way down the winding, dirt, hilly, detoured road toward the main road, the rain quickly became much heavier. The last dirt road which normally quickly floods out wasn't as bad as I had anticipated which led me to believe the main roads would be fine.
What I found, though was I was driving right into the path the storm was coming from and had already been dumped upon for a while. The main road past MSC and Belmart had sections completely underwater. As I passed the soccer fields, the houses at the base of the lookout hill we sometimes walk to had rivers flowing through any open source the water could find then crossing to the other side of the street. Further on, cars sat waiting to creep through sections of road with water up to their doors. As is custom here, if your car breaks down, you simply get out at the exact spot your problem arose and either call for help or begin fixing RIGHT THERE. While trying to avoid the deepest water and a few of these problematic cars, I witnessed something slightly alarming in an area along the steep hillside to my right. Large amounts of dirt dropping from an area that had been previously carved out. Almost like a small avalanche.
As I slowly made my way around the last turn just a quarter of a mile from our street, I was curious to know what was ahead that was causing traffic to stop and barely move. When I finally got past the last car stopped in the middle of the road, I could not believe what was causing the delay (aside from the stopped car in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD).
It was the meeting place for water runoff from three different directions one of which was the base of the lookout hill I was traveling around. Where the three water sources collided was a raging river to my left running directly through a small home and filling and taking over the street below taking with it anything in its path. As I sat jaw-dropped, praying for our safety as well as those in that little community, a new awareness crept in: what these people and many others in so many similar areas and many times, much worse living conditions live with every rainy season, two seasons a year. It's one thing to have an idea of what it might be like or to know that people struggle. But it's eye opening to actually see the force of the water. Praying no one lost their life.
I was yet again surprised as I turned onto our road to find it completely flooded as well, more water than I have seen on our street yet. As I approached our gate, and prepared to drive into the carport full of 6 inches of water, Jeff stood on Kylie's balcony with push broom in hand. Her entire room was filled with several inches of water that had blown under her door. When it is raining and windy, water also comes in our window leading to the roof, runs through the dining room and down the stairs. This time also running into the kitchen. I found Sandra mopping that. Our bedroom had begun to flood, but Jeff was able to stop that with a rolled towel at the base of the door.
Clean up was soon done and dinner was finally ready at 7:30. It's a hassle to deal with this clean up multiple times a year. But it's hard to complain much when the reality around us is so much worse and in many cases, dire.
We're thankful for the safety and protection we and many we love have. Yet just like so many issues here, we're brokenhearted for those that don't.
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| Our roof drainage system makes for a fun shower! |
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| A view of our street from our balcony |
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| Our street and carport |
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