Pollyana Cowgirl

The FLOOD

BANJIR

That is FLOOD in Bahasa Indonesia...
By golly, habbiedashohyodododlles...
This is the real thing. The flood experienced in Singapore last month pales in whitening comparison to the wet wet wild world Jakarta is currently experiencing.

I am still relatively dry, obviously, since I live on the 20th floor. Hold it there if you think I am not affected by the increasing water level.

Roads are rivers, normally placcid Jakartans are now avid swimmers and all hell has broken loose at supermarkets. Literally.

School was cancelled on Friday. I had an inkling about the disastrous state of affairs threatening to flood when it started to pour on Thursday. Dark clouds overwhelmed the city and a couple of teachers and myself included were discussing the probability of a flood and the higer possibility that school would be cancelled. Long weekend alert!

Hopes were not dashed!

At 5:45am, groggy me recieved a phone call with the greeting "Your dream is coming true!" from Abigail, fellow colleague and neighbour. I promptly retrieved my pyjamas from the laundry basket and went right back to sleep. Hours later and all psyched to enjoy the long weekend, reality hits.

The gym was closed, the laundry shut and the main road right outside my apartment was flooded. Damn. People were unable to get to work. Transport is almost non existent. This is a FLOOD! The queues at the supermarket were way too long and people were stocking up on gallons of water! YIKES!

SMSed Mummy and she told me that she saw the news and the flood looks bad. IT IS! Papa even cautioned me to EVACUATE if it escalates out of control! YIKES!

The extent of the flood finally hits home when I recieved SMSes from colleagues whose homes are submerged. Some suffered blackout, some had to paddle to the main road to get supplies, some had to cross rivers just to get food... This is not going to be fun. My colleagues in the know cautioned me to stock up on water, canned and fresh food to last me a few days in case I am stuck at home due to rising waters. I promptly did that this morning.

Sun please shine on Jakarta.

Latest update: School is cancelled again tomorrow. This is getting scary.

posted by Poot @ 3:11 PM