Flood

We've survived our first natural disaster in Chiangmai. It rained most of the week-end, but it didn't seem like it was a huge amount. Apparently, there was a lot more up north. We were on our way to church on Sunday morning and were surprised by the amount of traffic on the Superhighway. We kept seeing people parking their cars on the side of the highway and hailing taxis. We soon realized that people were bringing their cars up from their neighborhoods on either side of the superhighway and parking them. Most of the neighborhoods were under water. Apparently, some time on Sunday, they had to release the dam up north. Within a short time the river rose about 2 meters, putting lots of neighborhoods close to the river under 2 meters of water. My friend Yam lives close to the river and she said that the water came in very quickly. Her next door neighbor's grandma was caught in the water and was swept several miles away. People had to get out of their cars and climb on top to avoid being carried away by the very fast moving water. There was little people could do that night. Lots of people tried to get out in anything that would float. Lots of people spent the night on top of their cars waiting for helicopters. Yam and her family were trapped upstairs for a day without food. The water was so high that no one could go anywhere on Monday. Some students had to wade/swim to friends houses on higher ground so they could go to school. Police were doing the best they could with distributing food and water via helicopter. On Tuesday morning we could finally drive anywhere in the city. There was still standing water, but it wasn't so high that we couldn't drive most places. Gabe and I spent the morning helping our friends clean their houses. It's a huge job because the scum left by the river is really sticky and stains the walls of the house. Some people managed to get furniture upstairs, but some stuff got ruined. Lots of cars were completely under water. Anyway, the cleanup continues today. We've been helping friends do laundry since clean water is scare in some places. We were too far from the river to be affected and fortunately, our office is upstairs so the office is fine. Unfortunately, the whole parking lot is covered in 6 inches of sticky silt. We could probably grow something there. Anyway, hope you are well. I'll put up some pics later.