How our 3 Kids and I Survived the Jakarta Flood, the Rain, and Walked Back Home!

Flood. Dear flood. What seemed to happen in Jakarta 'every 5 years' has somehow become an 'annual disaster'. We arrived in Jakarta in March 2012 and since then, we've witnessed Jakarta going through this flood problem, once a year. (And no, I'm NOT blaming the governor for 'weather issues'.) Anyway. I thought I must blog and share this 'only-in-Jakarta' UNIQUE experience the kids and I went through yesterday. Yep, the day we TRULY experienced Jakarta's big flood! Well, here goes. It all started with rain. Heavy downpour, starting around midnight. Nonstop! And to cut the story short, we decided to NOT send the kids to school due to the rapidly rising flood water (though they're already in the car with us, in school uniforms and all). We went to drop hubby off to work, and we went back home. Errrr ... that's when the problem started. On our way home, we apparently entered 'an impossible to go further' zone!

I suddenly found myself in a situation where our car couldn't move further. It's pouring rain outside. I looked out my window, and saw flood water covering the lower parts of ALL other cars! I started to hear 'engine noises' coming from OUR car! And to make things worse, ... the 3 kids screamed, 'Mommy! Water is coming into the car!!' EEEEKSSS! It was such a scary moment! Thank God, seconds later I heard Anya pointing out to an office complex nearby, saying, "Mommy! Look! We should go there!" Seriously, THANK GOD, we somehow managed to make a quick turn (amidst the traffic jam!) and entered a slightly higher ground! Phew! At least our car was no longer IMMERSED!

Heavy rain didn't stop. And I thought, we just had to leave our parked car and get out of there before the flood got worse. Then you know what? We spotted a big truck! I did some crazy waves, yells (across the heavy rain!) and hand signs, and phew, the driver understood that we asked if we could get a lift! All four of us (drenched) hopped on to the back of the truck. Just as long as we could a little closer to home, I thought.

Then, you know what? In less than 2 minutes, we were told to get off! Why? Because the driver told us, they're NOT going out of the complex because the water level was TOO HIGH. Other trucks couldn't make it through the floods, he said. Like, seriously?? Trucks couldn't even make it through the floods? Errrr ... then I saw this sight across the road (picture below). Great. Just great.

We waited around again ... for another 10 minutes or so. Heavy rain. Nonstop. Then I decided to just go ahead. I told the kids to get ready to walk through the floods. Since there's NOTHING we could do, we're going home! The kids were like, 'How about our shoes?' 'How about our car?' 'How about our school bags?' Well, since we're in a state of 'emergency', I told them to NOT worry about those things. Wet school shoes should be the LAST things that we worry about. ... What happened next was, I carried Brie with one hand and held an umbrella with my other hand. Anya and Vai walked on their own. Each holding an umbrella. We slowly walked forward. Trying to feel the ground. Avoiding holes and whatever big stones and curbs.

It was mad, I know. Many looked at us, waving and gesturing from afar, asking if we wanted to go onto the side of the road and wait. But then I thought, 'Wait by the road side? No, I better stay towards the middle of the road, closer to the curbs (pictured above), so that JUST IN CASE there's a truck, a horse carriage, a boat, or ANYTHING that passes by, we could hop onto it!' What a crazy mother of three. Probably that thought crossed their minds. I don't know. I just wanted to go home. So we walked ahead.

We did see 2 horse carriages, a boat, 2 trucks (filled with people at the back) passed by. But they were all 'FULLY BOOKED'. I gave friendly yet desperate smiles, waved like crazy, yelled across the heavy rain, asking if they're coming back towards where we're heading. But, they gestured how they still had a looonggg way to go, unsure of when they could come back for us. Plus, the flood water was too high and trucks couldn't stop to pick us up, just in case the engine stopped. ... You know what? Despite all that, we still saw amazing things along the way. We saw people offering us help! Yes, amidst their own inconvenient situations, they offered us help! When we walked past strong currents, two people offered to hold the two older kids' hands so they didn't fall. A middle aged man, drenched, going towards the same direction as us, offered to accompany Vai and walk along his side! God-sent help, if you ask me.

After some 1.5 hours, we found a trolley! Yay! Weird, I know. But we're happy to see a trolley! And into the trolley Brie went. To rest my arms for a while.

Apparently, it took us a good 2 hours to reach home. But frankly, none of us felt the two-hour walk. Perhaps it's because we concentrated more on how to keep moving forward together. To keep on walking and finding a safer ground to tread. To keep ourselves balanced so we didn't slip and fall into the brown water! ... Ah anyway ... it was SO nice to reach our home! To have a good warm shower, and to clean ourselves from the murky water. ... Btw, as we walked through the floods, Vai was like, 'Mommy!! I think that was a dead mouse floating away!!' Hah! I seriously did NOT want to know if it was real or it was his mere imagination! I just told the kids to NOT think about what's inside and underneath the brown water. Just keep on walking, it's better that way! And hey hey hey, we survived! Woohoo! =)

You know ... I feel, we (especially the kids!) learned so much from what we went through. The kids experienced for themselves the kinds of help offered by strangers (who were ALSO in difficult situations), and I hope they in turn learn the importance of helping others too. The kids also learned how important it is to work as a team, to look out for each other! (Read: bickering and silly disagreements should be the last things in their mind!)