Tuesday morning, I awoke at 5:00 a.m. to the sound of rain beating against our tin roof. Aahh! Sleeping during a cooling rainfall in Sub Sahara Burkina Faso is the ultimate relaxation; so I fell into a refreshing sleep. When I got up at 6:00 a.m., the rain was still driving down, and at 7:00 a.m., when it was time to take the kids to school, I was wondering how they were going to get out of the car to their classes without getting drenched. We had no choice but to make a go of it.
The first street looked like a river, which wasn’t unusual during a heavy rain. But when we turned the corner and saw a car stalled in the road, I started to wonder what was up. Suspicions were confirmed when we went to turn the next corner and saw yet another river with a string of cars either stuck or stalled in the mud. One vehicle was nose down into the water, indicating it had driven into the canal my road crossed over. Though Pete’s truck could have made it, I was less confident in my driving skills over the canal and through the mud, so I backed up, planning to have Pete pick up my friends’ kids later.
The roads to school were no better; I drove in rivers the entire way. Pete and I decided to drive around (Have snorkel, wench, and 4 wheel drive, will go anywhere!), assess the damage and take pictures. On the way he thought to check on Karen Wolters, whose husband was in the States, to make sure she and her son had made it to school. She was frantic, “Water is coming into our house!”
We drove over as quickly as we could, but the magnitude of the flood was shocking; water had covered almost 2 lanes of the divided 4 lane highway. The service road next to us was so deeply underwater that the cars parked in front of a garage were almost completely submerged. The 15 foot deep and 20 yard wide canal meant to handle flash floods had overflowed up to the road looking like a 100 yard wide river.
We were sobered and in shock, and the only thing I could think of were our friends and workers who lived in the outskirts of the city where they are still zoning. Their houses are made out of mud bricks, and last year already, during a particularly strong rain, many of them crumbled. I dreaded to know what was happening during this rain, and prayed specifically for our workers’ homes. (In the end, God answered; one was cracked, and the other eroded only a bit!!!)
We arrived at the Wolters’ house where water was calf deep in the courtyard and ankle deep in the house. Pete and Micah fixed a levy that had been put in earlier, made a barrier against the water using spare tires and planks, and cut 2 holes in the courtyard wall while we and two friends squeegee-ed and swept. Finally, the water receded.
Our office, across the street suffered worse; it was knee deep underwater. Electrical cords were submerged, a fridge knocked over, the file cabinet saturated, and debris was floating around. There was no other way to get the water out than to pump it, so Pete and the director bought a new pump. Most files and a computer were saved, the copier was sitting high, but many papers and books were destroyed. We are still waiting to see about salvaging some hard drives.
The damage around the city was varied. Homes near the water reservoir and on another side of town were neck high in water, some people having to wait on their roofs to be evacuated. Our own roof leaked much worst than usual. Bridges were out. The electric company and water company were both flooded, so we were without electricity for 1 ½ days, and with low water pressure for more. Some people had no running water for days.
The day following the flood, we drove to Sector 30, the poorest section of town, to assess the damage there. The first striking thing on our way was that other than debris and regular-sized puddles, there was no indication of the flood. People were out, stores were open, and it was “business as usual.” Life must go on! When we arrived at Sector 30, we were taken to a school were there were over 200 refugee families’ whose homes had collapsed. Thankfully, since the rain had started in the morning, there were no immediate casualties. We dropped off 2 bags of rice which our tailor who had been a victim said were cooked and eaten that night. Doctors Without Borders later came by to offer medical help.
We stopped at our Sect. 30 church, which had taken in 70 refugees, and gave more rice. Then we toured, taking pictures and visiting homes. Walls had crumbled, roofs collapsed, houses were structurally cracked and leaning, belongings strewn all over. Another striking thing was that the men had gone immediately to work to salvage what bricks they could and rebuild their homes. One man explained, “We do what we have to do.”
Words can’t adequately describe what we saw.
To see it for yourselves, go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=310870&id=517985633&l=3eede1229d – For pictures of the floodhttp://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=311470&id=517985633&l=eecd32badb – For pictures of the devastation at Sect. 30http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=311517&id=517985633&l=584310fada – For pictures of the flood’s general aftermath
This was the worst flood since 1922. We had officially about 10 inches of water, much of it during 2 ½ hours. In the end 150,000 people lost their homes, their food till the harvest, and their possessions. They are housed in 93 official sites. 8 people have died, though the unofficial number is much more and still rising.
ACCEDES, the development arm of the C&MA church in Burkina would like to raise 24,000 dollars to help with food and clothing for 500 people, which will be distributed through our churches.
This disaster is an opportunity for us to show the love of Christ. Pray for opportunities to touch hearts and offer not only physical help, but spiritual help as well. Pray against sickness, Malaria, Cholera, Typhoid, which could ravage the refugees in their close quarters. If you would like to help us reach our goal of 24,000 dollars, please send your gifts to CAMA services,
P.O. Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO
80935. Specify in the Memo: For Burkina Faso Flood Relief.
