Of Rain, Rain and More Rain!

An Aerial View of the Congested Canteen Area

It had to happen!  The continuous rain for the past six days has resulted in the town of Gemas being flooded.  This is the second time this has happened in my fifteen years of service here.  If I am not mistaken, the last time this town was hit by flood, it was back in 2008, when fortunately, my family and I were spending our December holidays in Seremban at my in-laws place.

However, the flood this time is more serious than before to the extent that even the railway station is affected.  The railway tracks have been absolutely covered with flood water, which in reality would result in many train services being postponed.  Many pictures posted my friends in one social network, show the extent of the flood, which also included shops partially submerged in water.

Nature's fury has not spared the residential areas either.  It came as no surprise to me this morning when I went to school to complete some work, which incidentally was delegated to me by a colleague who has gone on maternity leave.  I realised that the school has been turned into a flood relief centre with the victims occupying the classrooms at Block E.  With clothes hanging on the classroom windows acting as temporary curtains to shield them from prying eyes, the flood victims sat on mats, probably donated by generous people, trying to make themselves as comfortable as the cold cement floor of the classrooms could offer.  On top of that, I heard that one hundred and fifty more flood victims would be joining the present ones in their makeshift homes.

Let us all be grateful that, even though many victims lost their belongs, all is still well because we have been spared any collateral damages.  Let us be grateful that it seems to have stopped raining, indicating that the flood water will soon recede.  Let us also hope that all the human spirit that was shown during this time of difficulty, will continue to grow; not recede and disappear like the flood water!