The day after I posted about polka dot umbrellas and pink galoshes we had a tremendous flood! The Hardap Dam was too full and the sluice gates had to be opened quite far to let out the water. It was way more water than the Fish River could handle at once, so it took over the town. This has happened before in Mariental, but not like this!
Our Peace Corps Medical Officer was ready to send a helicopter to evacuate us, but it was not necessary. Our flat is on the side of town opposite all of the flooding. The hospital and one of the grocery stores is also on that side of that, so we were totally fine. However, for the first time since I've been in Mariental I did see air traffic. Small planes and helicopters were flying around checking the flood status and maybe some media as well.
The week after the flood was chaos! Megan, my roommate, and I spent the week helping friends clean out their homes and businesses. We also had three Namibian friends who's homes were flooded staying in our sitkamer (living room). Most people in Mariental who were not flooded were then hosting/helping out people who were flooded. I had never experienced anything like this before! One friend's parents took a boat to their house on Sunday and their photos look like they are on a cruise on the river, but it is really the main highway that goes through Mariental! Another family spent Saturday night on the roof of their house because the water level started to cover their beds! One photo shows the water line left on a wall in town.
No comments:
Post a Comment