Day 1: Tuesday Downpour - Flood strikes
Mumbai experienced heaviest rainfall, experienced for a single day...900 + mm. It is the heaviest rainfall in the century and like most Mumbaikars I was caught in it too and had my share of adventures.
The day started off as any usual working day. Clear skies, not a hint of rain (so many people hadn’t even bothered to carry their umbrellas). The weather forecast was the usual (who bothers to read them anyways….they are never right!). As afternoon approached, dark clouds started gathering, but even that wasn’t unusual. This had happened before, dark clouds gathered but rarely it rained and if it did it wouldn’t be for more than half an hour. I was taking a lecture, at around 2:30 p.m. the rain suddenly started and it poured hard and kept on raining. Bombay is a coastal city, shares coastline with the Arabian Sea. It was high tide time and it had been raining heavily there for quite some time. It seems the government had closed the storm drains to avoid sea water from flooding in to the city. So when it rained in the city, coupled with high tide, the water did not drain out and instead started flooding the streets. The sea level rose too and water entered the city flowing over the sea side walls. The low lying areas were first to get submerged. Water entered houses and started entering institutions too. The water level kept steadily rising. (But, we didn’t realize the severity of the situation until we left our offices and went on the streets).
Meanwhile, I was at my office, busy. My office is near the sea and a slight flooding when it rains heavily is a normal occurrence. Besides every monsoon there is at least one day when it rains heavily and life comes to a standstill for a few hours. The water rises and recedes fast enough. But train services (the life line of Bombay, public transport that ferries millions of commuters to and fro each day) stall for some time and it is always better to rush off home in such cases or we could end up getting stuck some place for hours or might have to use bus services that would take much longer to get home.
Our director asked to let the students leave early and asked us too to leave as soon as possible to avoid getting stranded. We left offices by 3:30 like most other people and I took my usual bus for the station. The streets were flooded with water a little higher than the ankle which isn’t unusual. I sat in the bus but it hardly moved. In half an hour it had barely moved up a lane. The streets were jammed with private vehicles and buses, walking seemed a better option.
I got down the bus and I was shocked, the water had risen up knee high. In half an hour the water had risen so fast. I waded through the water, following other people who also were going towards the train station. I had to walk carefully, the water was flowing carrying strong undercurrents and the level seemed to be rising every passing minute. I walked in the middle of the road and walked on the dividers separating the road. In another 15 minutes the water had risen up further to waist level. People all around were all helpful. Specially shopkeepers, they indicated possible manholes and helped people out. We moved together in a group watching out for people who would slip into the water. I don’t know to swim but the walk was quite adventurous and funny to in parts. I saw a huge brinjal floating down with the water. People and children were playing in the water like they would with waves in sea and having a fun time.
I waded and waded and the water level continued to rise and I realized that getting to train station would be impossible and the tracks would be definitely flooded. I needed to get to a safer drier place fast. One of my good friends lived nearby and I decided to wade over to her house. And so I waded and waded and waded and waded for a really long time, I had lost all track of time. The water was cold and well not exactly clean either but then we really had no other option. By now the water was chest deep and I waded until I managed to reach my friends home. She stays at a higher drier place. She wasn’t home of course, she was at work too and as stuck up and wading as I was. Her mother welcomed me gladly saying it was the most sensible decision I took. The first thing I did was then rush to the bath and clean up. Then I set out trying to contact family and friends asking those who hadn’t left offices not to venture out. I managed to locate my father, brother and my friend. But my mom and my friend’s father were both missing.
Then trouble brewed further as communication lines jammed, everybody was trying to locate their friends and families, the rains continued incessantly. The local phones went out of service, then electricity, water….everything slowly shut down. My friend managed to wade and reach home by midnight but our parents each were out of touch. We had no idea where they were. We spent a sleepless night waiting for the rains to cease, communication to start up, wait for any message, find some source of information….but there was nothing, we just waited. In the neighborhood too many hadn’t reached home and not just adults, children too. Many schools kept back their children but there were some out in the school buses and not yet reached home.
The day started off as any usual working day. Clear skies, not a hint of rain (so many people hadn’t even bothered to carry their umbrellas). The weather forecast was the usual (who bothers to read them anyways….they are never right!). As afternoon approached, dark clouds started gathering, but even that wasn’t unusual. This had happened before, dark clouds gathered but rarely it rained and if it did it wouldn’t be for more than half an hour. I was taking a lecture, at around 2:30 p.m. the rain suddenly started and it poured hard and kept on raining. Bombay is a coastal city, shares coastline with the Arabian Sea. It was high tide time and it had been raining heavily there for quite some time. It seems the government had closed the storm drains to avoid sea water from flooding in to the city. So when it rained in the city, coupled with high tide, the water did not drain out and instead started flooding the streets. The sea level rose too and water entered the city flowing over the sea side walls. The low lying areas were first to get submerged. Water entered houses and started entering institutions too. The water level kept steadily rising. (But, we didn’t realize the severity of the situation until we left our offices and went on the streets).
Meanwhile, I was at my office, busy. My office is near the sea and a slight flooding when it rains heavily is a normal occurrence. Besides every monsoon there is at least one day when it rains heavily and life comes to a standstill for a few hours. The water rises and recedes fast enough. But train services (the life line of Bombay, public transport that ferries millions of commuters to and fro each day) stall for some time and it is always better to rush off home in such cases or we could end up getting stuck some place for hours or might have to use bus services that would take much longer to get home.
Our director asked to let the students leave early and asked us too to leave as soon as possible to avoid getting stranded. We left offices by 3:30 like most other people and I took my usual bus for the station. The streets were flooded with water a little higher than the ankle which isn’t unusual. I sat in the bus but it hardly moved. In half an hour it had barely moved up a lane. The streets were jammed with private vehicles and buses, walking seemed a better option.
I got down the bus and I was shocked, the water had risen up knee high. In half an hour the water had risen so fast. I waded through the water, following other people who also were going towards the train station. I had to walk carefully, the water was flowing carrying strong undercurrents and the level seemed to be rising every passing minute. I walked in the middle of the road and walked on the dividers separating the road. In another 15 minutes the water had risen up further to waist level. People all around were all helpful. Specially shopkeepers, they indicated possible manholes and helped people out. We moved together in a group watching out for people who would slip into the water. I don’t know to swim but the walk was quite adventurous and funny to in parts. I saw a huge brinjal floating down with the water. People and children were playing in the water like they would with waves in sea and having a fun time.
I waded and waded and the water level continued to rise and I realized that getting to train station would be impossible and the tracks would be definitely flooded. I needed to get to a safer drier place fast. One of my good friends lived nearby and I decided to wade over to her house. And so I waded and waded and waded and waded for a really long time, I had lost all track of time. The water was cold and well not exactly clean either but then we really had no other option. By now the water was chest deep and I waded until I managed to reach my friends home. She stays at a higher drier place. She wasn’t home of course, she was at work too and as stuck up and wading as I was. Her mother welcomed me gladly saying it was the most sensible decision I took. The first thing I did was then rush to the bath and clean up. Then I set out trying to contact family and friends asking those who hadn’t left offices not to venture out. I managed to locate my father, brother and my friend. But my mom and my friend’s father were both missing.
Then trouble brewed further as communication lines jammed, everybody was trying to locate their friends and families, the rains continued incessantly. The local phones went out of service, then electricity, water….everything slowly shut down. My friend managed to wade and reach home by midnight but our parents each were out of touch. We had no idea where they were. We spent a sleepless night waiting for the rains to cease, communication to start up, wait for any message, find some source of information….but there was nothing, we just waited. In the neighborhood too many hadn’t reached home and not just adults, children too. Many schools kept back their children but there were some out in the school buses and not yet reached home.
Day 2 : The Next Day
By the next day people in the neighborhood had started reaching back to their homes. The communication lines were still jammed. And we asked the people who returned for news of the situation. It was flooded everywhere, news came in of casualties, of people having been washed away, drowned, suffocated to death in their vehicles (the water rose so quickly that the automatic locking system got jammed....many had their windows rolled up to avoid rain water seeping in...the ACs worsened the problem ...may ACs burst and people died of suffocation).
We walked, or rather waded to the railway station nearby and tried to find out more information. The trains were not working since tracks had been washed away. People who had spent the whole night in trains had started walking along the tracks moving resting at each station before moving on. Many people had been walking the whole night and were continuing the journey still tired, hungry but not giving up. We saw old ladies with swollen feet walking along the tracks, there was a lady carrying a 3 month old baby slowly trudging holding the baby high above the water, husband guiding along. A few social organizations had managed to distribute food packets and clean water to some of the weary travelers. No shops were open, a local milk seller opened and a huge crowd collected around trying to get some milk. The shops that were open quickly emptied of all supplies of food available. There was water all around but not a drop of clean water to drink.
Around afternoon we got news that my friend’s father was in a hospital nearby. We rushed to the hospital wading in waters again. On the way we saw film stars and TV actors wading through the water. The flood proved a great leveler. There were people here too who distributed free food and water to people who were trudging by. My friend’s father was in the general emergency ward. He is old an diabetic and had been wading through water at night when he tried to flag down a car for lift. The vehicle skidded, hit from behind, ran over his legs and then drove away. One of his foot was completely crushed, there was nobody around to help. He slowly waded and managed to reach some people who put him on a bus. The bus took him to the hospital and the kind driver and conductor got him admitted. Then he managed to send a message down to us. We quickly moved him into a private ward. There were many people arriving with all sorts of injuries. There was no electricity so an X-Ray could not be taken. The generators were running for the ICU, ICCU and Operation Theatre. His foot was just bandaged up and all we could do was again wait and wait some more. We left her mother there and I and my friend waded back home. The water had finally started receding slowly but there was still no news of my mother. I was feeling really helpless and frustrated now, how and where do I search for her I had no idea. I knew I had to stay put where I was and wait but it was so difficult.
By night one mobile operator started functioning and electricity was restored too (only in our residential area tho…the hospital was still in darkness and continued to remain so for another whole day). We waited out another night, we were tired enough to drop off to sleep. By next day morning most mobile operators had started functioning. Then I got the reliving news that my mother had finally reached home. She spent two whole nights in a bus. Moving out would have been disastrous, it was a fine decision she took of staying back in the bus. She finally managed to reach home safe and sound.
The morning newspaper told us more devastating news of the casualties left behind. Bodies of people swept away and drowned had started surfacing now in hordes. Houses had been swept away; landslides had crushed and killed many. Of the killed were many people who had tried to rescue other people. The government disaster management was a complete disaster in itself. It was the general public, commoners who helped each other out in times of need. There was no eve teasing, harassment, robbery or fleecing, (people were out on the streets helpless, they could have been an easy prey to exploitation) people opened their doors to strangers and gladly helped each other.
We walked, or rather waded to the railway station nearby and tried to find out more information. The trains were not working since tracks had been washed away. People who had spent the whole night in trains had started walking along the tracks moving resting at each station before moving on. Many people had been walking the whole night and were continuing the journey still tired, hungry but not giving up. We saw old ladies with swollen feet walking along the tracks, there was a lady carrying a 3 month old baby slowly trudging holding the baby high above the water, husband guiding along. A few social organizations had managed to distribute food packets and clean water to some of the weary travelers. No shops were open, a local milk seller opened and a huge crowd collected around trying to get some milk. The shops that were open quickly emptied of all supplies of food available. There was water all around but not a drop of clean water to drink.
Around afternoon we got news that my friend’s father was in a hospital nearby. We rushed to the hospital wading in waters again. On the way we saw film stars and TV actors wading through the water. The flood proved a great leveler. There were people here too who distributed free food and water to people who were trudging by. My friend’s father was in the general emergency ward. He is old an diabetic and had been wading through water at night when he tried to flag down a car for lift. The vehicle skidded, hit from behind, ran over his legs and then drove away. One of his foot was completely crushed, there was nobody around to help. He slowly waded and managed to reach some people who put him on a bus. The bus took him to the hospital and the kind driver and conductor got him admitted. Then he managed to send a message down to us. We quickly moved him into a private ward. There were many people arriving with all sorts of injuries. There was no electricity so an X-Ray could not be taken. The generators were running for the ICU, ICCU and Operation Theatre. His foot was just bandaged up and all we could do was again wait and wait some more. We left her mother there and I and my friend waded back home. The water had finally started receding slowly but there was still no news of my mother. I was feeling really helpless and frustrated now, how and where do I search for her I had no idea. I knew I had to stay put where I was and wait but it was so difficult.
By night one mobile operator started functioning and electricity was restored too (only in our residential area tho…the hospital was still in darkness and continued to remain so for another whole day). We waited out another night, we were tired enough to drop off to sleep. By next day morning most mobile operators had started functioning. Then I got the reliving news that my mother had finally reached home. She spent two whole nights in a bus. Moving out would have been disastrous, it was a fine decision she took of staying back in the bus. She finally managed to reach home safe and sound.
The morning newspaper told us more devastating news of the casualties left behind. Bodies of people swept away and drowned had started surfacing now in hordes. Houses had been swept away; landslides had crushed and killed many. Of the killed were many people who had tried to rescue other people. The government disaster management was a complete disaster in itself. It was the general public, commoners who helped each other out in times of need. There was no eve teasing, harassment, robbery or fleecing, (people were out on the streets helpless, they could have been an easy prey to exploitation) people opened their doors to strangers and gladly helped each other.
And Now.......
More horror stories keep emerging still and it is yet again raining heavily. This time however people are in their homes, hopefully safe for sure. There are some places where the conditions are still bad, there has been no electricity, food and water available for five consecutive days now, many people have been rendered homeless, the public transport services have not yet stabilized, they have incurred heavy losses too, many people are still missing.
My friend’s father is still in the hospital, he still needs to get X-Rayed and then he would be operated. Hope he gets well soon.
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