Unless you watch the weather channel religiously like my grandmother, you probably have no idea what has been going on off the Pacific coast in Central America. First, Hurricane Jova hit south-western Mexico, followed shortly by Hurricane Irwin. The outskirts of these storms includes tropical depression E-12, which came straight over Guatemala. Starting Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, while we were all sleeping, the rain started to bucket down all over Guatemala. I woke around 4am, surprised by the force of the rain. I have come accustomed to afternoon and evening rain but not round-the-clock rain. The rain continued until at 11am in Xela. The combination of the HUGE amount of rain, drains clogged with trash and debris, loose dirt hillsides, and poorly constructed homes has led to a significant amount of flooding, landslides, and a general shut down of normal life. As of Friday, some 12 people, including two children who were trapped in their house when the walls collapsed, have died as a result of the storm. Many freeways have been closed due to landslide, bridge destructions, and ongoing rains.
On Wednesday, I was supposed to go to the clinic in Xela. However, we could not get there. The Rotunda is a nearby bus stop to all parts of town and was impassible with waist-deep water. The neighborhood of Las Rosas where the clinic is located was flooded as the river that runs about 300 feet from the clinic rose and overflowed onto the already muddy road. I spent the morning inside watching the news with my family and helping clean up in our house. We only had some minor water leaks from excessive rain on the roof. I had a light flow of drops, which I had discovered before going to bed on Tuesday, were falling on my pillow. Needless to say after a few days of rain and continued leaking, my room has still been rearranged and a towel resides on the floor to collect the drops. Hannah woke up Wednesday to find a lake around her bed. She is on the opposite side of the patio. The wind blew rain off the roof onto her door, which subsequently went to the space between her door and door frame, dripped down the door, and found home on her bedroom floor. She didn’t even realize this happened until her feet went “splash” in the water the next morning. Yaki’s room had the worst leak. She woke up in the middle of the night because her feet were frozen cold. She has several leaking spots, one directly over her bed. There was also water falling on her armoire and bookcase. As a result, the top mattress from her bed is in the front hallway (smells like mold, gross) and her room has been rearranged as well. The doorway to the kitchen, which leaks even with light rain, was a mess. The paint and plaster are pealing; its very slippery.
Wednesday afternoon Korrin and I were able to escape to a café for a bit. All of the banks, schools, grocery stores, and roads were closed in the morning. As we walked around town, there was still a tremendous amount of water on the roads and a light rain falling. We scoured the Internet for information about the roads and villages but there was nothing. The radio in my kitchen was the best source of news. The local television showed broadcast of communities and streets in Xela but they did not share information about which roads were washed out, which rivers flooded, only that you should stay home. Wednesday evening our conference was cancelled on account of anticipated rain.
Thursday the damages from the previous day and new rain resulting in new landslides persisted. The road to our San Antonio clinic was impassable so Korrin and I stayed home again. We spent most of our morning watching Easy A at Korrin’s house and at a café trying to connect to the outside world and stay warm. Thursday I went to salsa after discovering that ESPN was super delayed only played post-season MLB.
Friday we had our group Spanish class in the morning. We had some rather unmeaningful conversations and some interesting ones. We were most concerned with how to spend our weekend. Our initial plans called for a day-long volunteer project in a very rural community called Alaska, about an hour outside of Xela, and a fun day at a waterpark. With the storm, we are unable to travel to either of these locations. The community suffered some damages but everyone is safe. Erika and Kate rescheduled these activities to the following weekend but I will be in Boston for my interview – bummer. In the mean time, we will all be trapped more or less in Xela. It is very risky to travel with the unstable hillsides, still raging rivers, and threat of more rain. Friday afternoon Korrin, Hannah, Harim, and I snuggled in my room and watched Bridesmaids on Korrin’s computer. I made popcorn in our microwave after the power came back on and it was a nice afternoon. Hopefully this weekend will lead to some more excitement. Right now we are planning to stay inside, watch some movies, knit, and bake brownies. It is not safe to leave because we may get stranded somewhere.
This weekend, we are planning to meet with the Mormon church in the afternoon and assist them with some relief efforts. Hannah, Aeja, and Jeff spent time with the firefighters on the volunteer projects earlier in the storm. On Wednesday morning, Hannah waded through knee deep water to help evacuate people from a flooded hotel. She later paddled a BOAT to rescue people for second and third story floors of their homes. I would imagine we will spend our time helping clear mud and debris from flooded homes. Luckily, I have my boots.
In all, I am safe but thankful. This is my first natural disaster experience that has resulted in a such a change of lifestyle. I am limited by what I can do and information dispersal. The lack of centralized information is the most frustrating. There is no website or phone number or radio or TV station that states the status of freeways, buses, schools, or the airport. Hopefully, things will be cleared quickly and there is no more loss of life or property. I’m hoping that I can easily leave Xela next Friday to travel to Guate and my flight back to the States. Oh boy!
These are two simple newspaper articles:
http://channel6newsonline.com/
This is a video of the bridge we needed to cross this weekend but cannot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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