Flooding

The rainwater is now coming down from the mountains to the valley of Oaxaca. It is not raining here, but the rivers are overflowing and last night my neighborhood began to flood. The people were sandbagging and making preparations within their houses. The electricity went out around 8:30, but I figured that was because of the area further away that had some minor flooding. I thought it may have just been a precaution.

When I went to bed around 10:30, there was no water in the house or the yard and even the streets closest to my house had very little water. I was not concerned, but had called to ladies who live nearby to talk about arrangements for school the next day, just in case. My room is upstairs, so I went to bed, not thinking there would be a problem.

About midnight, I woke up because I heard voices outside. I saw the men sandbagging the intersection in front of my house, and I tried to see out the window. The water outside was a little deeper, but still did not look bad enough for me to be concerned. However, shortly after 2:00am, I heard voices outside again. This time, people were repeating the “ayudar,” which means “help.” This time, I could see the water, now in my yard, so I went downstairs.

When I went downstairs, there was about an inch of muddy water all over the main floor of the house. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I began making phone calls. Fortunately, God allowed the phone to still be working during all this, because my cell phone had just run out of time a day or two earlier and I had not yet had the opportunity to refill it. Without the house phone, I would have stuck or trying to walk out many blocks through the flooding by myself.

After talking with a couple people, I took as many things upstairs as possible. This took about an hour and a half, but thankfully, I was able to get most of the things above water that might be damaged. Of course, I was unable to move the large furniture, etc. By this time, the water inside the house was ankle deep, probably about 6 inches. (The water had risen approximately 5 inches within an hour and a half.)

At about 3:30, I was able to contact my supervisors and Mike left his house to come get me. I packed a couple bags with documents, my computer, camera, clothes, etc. and then took a few pictures while waiting for Mike to arrive. Mike came as close to the house as he could, due to the water, sandbags, and tied off streets and then he called me again. I waded out of the house and walked through knee-deep water on the streets for about two blocks to get to his car.
At that point, we tried to check on a family from OCS who lives in the same neighborhood, but were unable to contact them, so we headed back to Mike and Ilona’s house. Ilona welcomed me into her home around 4:30 in the morning and I was able to shower all the mud off and crash into bed. By this time, it was nearly 5:00am.

What an experience! They don’t teach you about that in Bible College! But, you know, through it all, God was with me. He helped me stay calm and just do what needed to be done. He provided others to help me know what was best to do and then to rescue me. And, even the fact that the phone still worked and I had a place to go to was His provision for me.

Don’t misunderstand me. If I could reverse the whole event, I would. The aftermath of all this is going to be a mess. I don’t even want to think about the cleanup that will be required. But, I can still say that God is forever faithful and He really does look out for His children. It could have been much worse.

Please keep me and my neighborhood in your prayers. There is much cleanup work to be done, but for now, we all have to wait for the water to subside. I have already received several offers of help with cleanup and once again, I thank God for good people who are sacrificing their own comfort to help. What a relief to know that I have the Lord on my side and His people here to stand with me and do the necessary work. I am not alone.

Psalm 32:7- “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”