222007

It’s been more that a month since the day 02-02-2007.

A day which actually baptized me as a flood refugee.

Up until now I can still remember the details and the hours very clearly.
And considering that I’ve considered the disaster as one of my life’s milestones, I want to make sure that I’ve blogged it so that later I can still remember and re-lived the insights that Lord Above has given to me.

Friday morning 6am, February 2nd, a relative’s phone call had wake me up telling me that there is flood coming over.
Standing from my bed, my foot has already meet the first flood water since my bed room is the lowest part of my house and there was water coming over from my backyard.

And there was the heaviest rain I’ve ever remembered outside.

Quickly I went to see the frontyard.
The water had not come in yet, but my logic told me that considering the situation, most probable I would face the most terrifying moment in my entire life.

Then, slowly my fear and worries grew up as the water level slowly but sure increased in my house.

8am, the water level is around my ankle, about 5 cm inside the house.
I was busy moving my precious thing to higher place.

12pm, the water has been around 30cm high, right below my knees.
My house which is usually very clean and tidy has been become like a dirty pool with everything upside down.
Thank God, that I’ve the opportunity to move my precious things to higher place and take needed precautions to my car.
But yet, the other things were starting to sink into the water.

About after lunch, suddenly there was "Andong" stopped by my neighbour house.
I didn’t know why, it interested me to go outside to see and to have a talk with my neighbours.
It turned out that my neighbours were taking refuge using the "Andong".
They paid around IDR400,000 for the "Andong" for around 15km ride!!

And by the grace of God, it was happened that one of my complex security passed by and gave me their post’s number.

It was nothing much to remember except that the water level steadily increased, even after the rain hasd stopped.
The water was slowly change from transparent to brown and then to black after the level has increased higher than toilet level.

Anyway, until that point, I still have faith (or foolness) that somehow the water will decrease very-very soon.
Even I filled my time taking pictures of my ruined house, thinking that it will be the material to be seen and reflected later.
Still trying to do my job, discussed with my foreign partners, denying the worst possibilities.
Hehehe, quite radical and stupid for a person who would soon become a flood refuge, aren’t I?

I went to bed around 10pm with my bed floating in the water (like the one usually seen in swimming pool actually) and my laptop around me, after I did some job.
Still thinking that the water level will decrease very-very soon, that I will woke up the next morning, and everything will be okay.

Anyway, God had chosen a different scenario for me.
I woke up around 3am in the morning with my body wet, because my bed can not support my weight anymore.
Quickly I went to see my frontyard.
It was precisely the situation that beforehand I can only see in TV or papers that I sincerely believed wouldn’t happen to me.
It seemed that all my neighbours have taken refuge, it was very dark outside, nobody around.

I was alone!

And the coldness of water starting to freeze my feet.

Back then I was starting to pray, Oh God, is this my fate to die alone as a flood victim?

NO!!

I changed my wet clothes, sit on a table which was only 5cm higher than current water level.
Started to think to take a refuge.

Back then I realized that it is a lesson from God, and my Good Father in Heaven won’t give me problems more than I can overcome:

• thank God, that I knew the security’s post’s number,
• thank God, that my precious things were still safe,
• thank God, that I could get a dry place to avoid my feet to be frozen,
• and what amazed me the most, thank God, that at that time, out of usual, I have big cash in my hand (usually I did not keep cash in my house).

So, I called the security’s post, gathered my things into two bags, and prepared for the refuge scenario.

Around 1 hour later, 4:30am, the security came and I was rescued using hand-made emergency boat from tire.
I was rescued into an Islamic hospital near my house (it turns out that the hospital is the highest place in my complex).

But then, so what?
It wasn’t over yet.
I had to think where to take refuge.

Every possible refuge places were separated with more that a meter high water.

So, for around 1 hour I can only sit silently in one of the hospital bench, tried to think:

• it was impossible to take refuge in my relatives or my friend’s houses,
• I was thinking to go home to Surabaya, but then I knew that the road to airport was flooded too,
• so, it was nowhere to go but to stay in the hospital,
• but how about my things, will it be safe if I take refuge with the other refugees?
• well, it seemed that the hospital’s rooms were not too full,
• so I decided to take my chances to ask for the physicians’ permission to rent a hospital room.

Thank God, that eventually I can get a clean room, and even I spent my days trying to overcome my fear and worries everytime rain falled (because even in the hospital, the water level was starting to increase), I could say that my condition was much-much better than the other refugees.

Thank God.

Waiting for the flood to over was my opportunity to start thinking and thinking of what lesson God has given me:

• I realized that there were more in life than mere my jobs and my careers, that there were warm cares and attentions of friends, relatives, even strangers which made me stronger,
• I did reconfirmed my faith that my Good Father in Heaven will equip me with things I need to solve my problems, that He won’t leave me alone,
• I thanked God that He has given me a chance to develop my maturity, my sense of crisis, to be able to think, even in the worst case scenario.

The rest was now history that the flood finally over and I started to clean the house and fixed my house and my life.

And as it was said that a thing that can not kill you, will only make you stronger.
The flood experience is, a lesson from God to make me more mature and stronger in my faith to Him.

Thank God, and also I thanked my Little Brother and my worried Mother, who cares for me so much that lighten up my burden by far, my secure-base Y2K who gave me so much attention so that I did not feel alone, my boss and my mentor Mas Bento who repeatedly become my secure-base in my worst time, my friends who supported me, and foreigners back then who became my Samaritan guys.

Thank you all, and well I have to stop now before I get more melancholic and started to cry :).

Note: It's been two years since this event, yet I was experiencing butterfly - no, dragon - in my stomach every January and February, especially when there was heavy rain. Anyway thank God, there was no flood in my house ever since and hopefully never will.

(previously posted in Friendster on March 19th, 2007)