Flood

I was skeptical that the meeting I was on my way to attend was not canceled because I’d heard that the community had recently experienced some severe flooding. I was not surprised to find the house we were staying at mostly empty, except for a few suitcases and backpacks left there by other early attendees. Everyone seemed to have gone down to the river to help out, check out the extent of the damage or watch the rescue operations underway. Naturally, I followed suit and wandered toward the low ground and row of trees lining the river to see what was happening.

At the river, I was surprised to see that few people were actually helping. Most were just standing around watching from the sidelines. The waters had risen to just below the rooftops of the houses. Most of the local people were safe on high ground, but another concern quickly became apparent, namely, the lack of food for the refugees.

Seeing the lack of resourcefulness, with most people just standing around doing nothing, I decided to jump right in, literally, and do what I could. I leaped from the bank and grabbed onto a large tree limb that hung out over the water. I swung far out over the river. The branch broke, but I continued to soar, making a wide circle around the flooded houses, getting a bird’s eye view of the flooded community.

I looked for the most likely places food and survival gear might be located. I selected an area and circled back around, coming in low over the water and scudding along the surface like a rider on a jet ski. As I pulled up to the spot that I’d selected during my reconnaissance flight, I sank back into the water to about chest height and then swam over.

Earlier I had been watching a short assembly line of rescue workers ineffectually carting odds-and-ends of things from some of the swamped homes. Hoping that I’d have better luck, I took a deep breath and dove beneath the water and swam for the door of the submerged house. The door was unlocked so I opened it and went inside. There, I found a large cache of food and began bringing it to the surface. Others soon joined me in helping carry the supplies to dry ground.