I was too complacent about flood this time. I was too confident that the water would stop at the edge of the house like it did twice before. There was a little voice telling me to move the rest of the stuff in the storage rooms to the veranda on the second floor. Somehow, I didn’t listen and brushed it aside by saying that it’s unlikely that the water would be that high. Luckily, my gardener had the common sense to ask me to move the two brush cutters on high places. But I left a few other gadgets on the floor.
The following morning, I was very surprised to see the first floor of the house flooded was invaded by water. The previous day, the water was just flowing over the lawn. I was hoping that the water would stay on the lawn as the previous two floods. My gardener and her friend came to see the development of the flood in my garden. They were also surprised to see that the water was rising very fast. The currents were quite strong and relentless. I began to be afraid and anxious about the intensity of the columns of water coming from the north.
They just came from my neighbour’s house to help with moving her things up to the second floor. My gardener told me that the dirt road in the south was flooded up to her chest level. They had to wade through the flood water to reach the neighbour’s house. But the flood level inside my neighbour’s house was about one meter high. Then they walked in waist high water for one hundred meters to see how I was doing amidst the flood. My gardener wanted me to flee the flood and stay at her house on higher ground. But I told her I couldn’t possibly leave orange cats on their own. These cats were very frightened by the sight of water covering the whole garden and front yard. They refused to leave their comfort zone inside the house.
Many scorpions big and tiny could be seen around the house. Hundreds of earthworms came up to the house, small lizards, frogs were jumping all over the place and a king snake swam by near the gate.
I shouldn’t have procrastinated on moving the water pump on higher ground the previous evening. Usually I would play safe and take action to prevent any undue damages. But this time, it was too late to dismantle the water pump at the back of the house. The water level was about three inches away from reaching the water pump. My gardener and her friend had left the house by the front gate. They had to walk through waist high water for about three hundred meters to reach the high ground.
So, I made several phone calls to the local authorities asking for some sand bags. It took several minutes to get the right numbers for contacting relevant local staff. Fortunately, someone answered my call. The local staff told me that they just came back from several rescue missions with their long boat. I felt bad for having to add more burden on his team in late afternoon. I told him that I needed about eight sand bags to prevent the water from seeping into the water pump. He told me he had to check whether there were any sand bags available. They had been distributing sand bags to various houses several days ago.
So, I waited for his response. I thought they probably ran out of sand bags. I tried to stay calm and be accepting of my fate. Then, I heard a boat with two staff zooming past my house. I thought they went to the wrong house at the end of the road. But the boat came back and one staff shouted that they would fetch the sand bags for me. The local rescue team had to locate my location before loading those heavy sand bags.
I was quite impressed by the speed and efficiency of their work. They seemed to know what they were doing. These people were local villagers who worked at the local district office. They didn’t complain about having to make one extra trip to help me out with sand bags. The depth of water on the lawn was sufficient for the boat to be as close to the house as possible. I showed the staff the troubled spot needing sand bags. The spot was very narrow and awkward for placing sand bags properly. They wanted to build a wall to prevent water from getting into the water pump. But I thought it would be impossible as two water pipes were in the way. So, I had to accept the possibility of having flood water damaging the water pump.
They told me they had been busy rescuing people and moving belongings for villagers in flooded houses. But they were still very cheerful and energetic with the eagerness to tackle any problems. I couldn’t help having lots of admiration for their simple and straightforward manners. They were local villagers who had been employed on an ad hoc basis. Some were volunteers who wanted to join the rescue team. There were hundreds of volunteers from other parts of Thailand working with local authorities in all flooded areas in the north and northeastern provinces.
It was just incredible to witness their energetic spirits and positive feelings for helping people in difficult situations. They had earlier helped my neighbour with moving heavy equipments onto higher ground. Two days later, they had to help evacuating my neighbour to safety after the flood inundated the first floor of the house. I was lucky to be able to stay with my cats. They would have gone berserk as one cat cried for help during a rainstorm. They both rushed to be close to me and I had to comfort them.
I was very grateful to have the sand bags delivered and placed around the water pump. I saw the small gap made by the two water pipes, so I had to pray for a miracle. But I could sense some weeks ago that I might have to get a new water pump. The thought had entered my head that it was an old water pump which had been repaired once before. On hindsight, the flood would force me to get a new water pump which would last me some ten years (as this old pump).
I didn’t know the hidden purposes of this flood but I had the feeling that all significant events were meaningful. I just wasn’t capable of deciphering the hidden messages. Certainly, the experience of this severe flood has affected my psyche and mind on a deep level. Some weird feelings came to my mind about a rehearsal for some more severe situation in the future. We were being exercised to get used to emergency situations and sudden hardship.
I had wanted to approach the local authority to discuss about making some plans for the repercussion of a limited nuclear conflict. But I was afraid these people would think I was crazy. Now some local staff have made my acquaintances, this encouraged me to approach the chief officer whenever I felt compelled to request for a meeting. Life was getting ‘weird’ and might be getting ‘crazy’ one of these days. I had some inklings if the far away future many years ago. That’s why I had found a plot of land in this far away province by the border with Laos. Most friends couldn’t understand why I chose to live very far away from the big city. I hoped and prayed that I could do my part in the survival of local community in the future.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.