Threatened by Floods

I really took for granted how safe Northwest Ohio is from natural disasters. I would hear about hurricanes, floods, & tornadoes and knew most likely I would never have to experience one of these. I never imagined when I moved to the other side of the world that Thailand would be having the heaviest monsoon season in 50 years. Much of the country is experiencing flooding or will be affected soon.

This is Ayutthaya, a province about 45 minutes away from my house. When we visited Wat Pho a few weeks ago we were only 15 minutes away from this area. This area used to be the capital of the Thai Kingdom. It has amazing temples & ruins that I hope to get to see. This area holds so much history and it is so sad that it is being devastated by floods. Ben has some students that live in this area that are unable to get to school.

Last week, dams up north were released to try and relieve flooding up there, but that water has to go somewhere and it is headed our way. We live in one of the four districts that will bear the brunt of the flooding. We have heard a couple different dates as to when things could get really bad. Oct. 11th has been talked about as the beginning of the flooding and then worst of it will be here between Oct. 16-18 due to high tides and tropical storms combined with the water from the dams. It is so hard to believe that in a couple of months we won't see rain for months! This is a picture of a road today about 15 minutes from our house. There is also some flooded streets over by Ben's school, but as of right now our neighborhood is looking pretty good.

We brought all our belongings upstairs this weekend and tried to get as much of the furniture off of the ground that we could. We have heard that the water could be up to a meter high (over 3 feet). Our room has turned into our"head quarters". We have 15 gallons of water, food comes upstairs every night, medicine, crafts, & plenty of games & toys. I think and hope we are as prepared as we can be. We are going to the store every other day, just to stay stocked up on what we would need. It won't be fun, but we have to prepare ourselves as it seems this will be impossible to avoid. We just do not know the severity of it. I am so thankful we have an upstairs to our home and my heart breaks everytime I cross the khlong (canal) and see the houses that are built on the water slowly getting deeper. It will be a total loss for these families.

We appreciate all the kind messages we have been sent. We will keep you all updated on what is happening over here. Honestly, I just want it to happen and be done. The waiting is the worst. Thankfully Ben is on his October break next week and will be home with us. I really just want to enjoy our time together exploring Bangkok and be done thinking about flooding.