flood

Tropical Storm Trami just swept pass Taiwan less than 48 hours ago. It brought massive amount of rain and flooded many places, especially lowlands and inland mountainous areas. Although I’m staying a few kilometres from the river, my estate is situated on an elevated plain and with my room on the 4^th floor, the possibility of experiencing flood is almost next to zero.

Having said that, I did experience flooding while I was young. Maybe unknown to many, I didn’t grow up in a big city, but a medium sized town. Even so, I didn’t live downtown. I've stayed in many houses that were in the outskirts. One of those houses was especially memorable for all the right and wrong reasons. That estate was kinda like a disorganized housing project where the roads were muddy and outages of utilities happened sporadically. Although there was a well in our compound, we didn’t use it for water. My daily task was to fetch water from the well, using a bucket with a rope and NO pulley system, and water my dad’s vegetable garden. And that’s how I got my strength. :D

Whenever the monsoon season hit, our house faced a possibility of being flooded. Water would usually come up to our porches and many times it did come into the house. And to be on the safe side, we would usually move everything on top of the chairs and tables before going to bed. The water that came into the house is usually murky and smelly. And I hate the cleaning-up afterwards, as it was very tedious. 

Looking back, it was both terrifying and exciting at the same time. The road leading to my house would turn muddy and we had to wrap plastic bags around our school shoes when we go to school. There would be puddles of water on those muddy roads whenever it rains. After a few days, we would be catching tadpoles in those puddles.

Those were really carefree days. Money was tight back then but I think my siblings and I had the chance of experiencing a rather unique and interesting childhood. And those memories are priceless.