The Flood Cometh

We had about 160 mm of rain last night and now Phaltan is dealing with a flood. This is about 30% of the rain they would expect over an entire Monsoon season, and it isn't even the rainy season here yet! Although it may be Monsoon season in Mumbai, the Ghat Mountains keep this area (in the “rain shadow”) from getting much rain until around September. Here, towns are more prone to drought and, apparently, Phaltan hasn’t seen this much rain in over thirty years. The area behind Maxine’s house only has about six inches of water, but other, more low-lying areas nearby have it much worse. Our next-door neighbor is an English teacher at the KNB and acting principal of both the primary and secondary schools. Her family’s land usually has a small drainage stream, but now they are dealing with about two feet of dirty water.

First thing this morning, we visited Nanda’s house (she’s Maxine’s long-time cook and helper) to make sure that her family was ok. Her house has been leaking recently and she lives fairly close to the river. Luckily, she was on high enough ground to escape all but leaking damage, but it must have been hard to live in that house while it poured all last night. Right now, the local authorities who would usually deal with this situation are on vacation on the coast, so the families with a great deal of water damage, blocked transportation, and compromised sewage systems, will have to manage on their own.

Don't worry. I am in no danger.

pictures to come.