Of Rain and Floods

So it’s the rainy season. I’ve been experiencing it for a few months now, but coming from the Northwest, it’s not really been that big of a deal.

October, however, is a different story. It rains a lot, every day. Suddenly, like in Seattle, I’m making plans according to when it may or may not rain. But it’s still hot too!

The first twelve hours of yesterday were heavy rain and when people finally started arriving for work, all they were talking about was the incredible flooding.

A new orphanage that was built over the summer flooded (we’re currently housing 25 of the kids in the three rooms next to mine). The streets flooded. And Günter’s house (the engineer with whom I’m working on the new construction) flooded. He never made it into work because they were taking care of water a meter high in their house.

Here at the offices we’re apparently high (although not really dry), so fortunately we haven’t had any problems.

In Seattle, temporary construction provisions are built to withstand the worst storm recorded in an average 25 year period. Permanent construction is to be built to withstand the worst storm in 100 years.

So I asked, how often does it rain this hard since it’s obviously so damaging to the community? Oh, just about every year, they replied.

Of course, you don't just get the water, you get whatever was in the water too, and in Nicaragua, it's pollution, trash and sewage.

Between the local deforestation, the increase of people living in undesirable locations because of an increase in poverty and global climate changes, it doesn't just happen every year, it actually gets worse every year. And Nicaragua, at least, has yet to see a way out.