Special Report : 2024 Flood at the Si Chiang Mai.

Hi, EvolGarlic here; sorry for the late newsletter that should have been dropped off on Friday, but this time, it was not about the problem with my tum, but rather a problem with the thing called Flood.

 For those who don't know, I have lived in the city of Si Chiang Mai for a long time; Si Chiang Mai is known for its embankment on the edge of the Mekong River and opposes the Capital City of Laos, Vientiane. Every year between August and September, the water level in the river rises high; some years are much higher than before but never overflows the embankment.

 In recent weeks, there has been a time when unclear and unclean water rises above the warning level but does not overflow, the flood that flows in the entire province and district of Nong Khai and many other districts that live on the edge of the Mekong River.

 The Last time I experienced a flood was in the year 2008, back then when my house was double-decker, and the flood was rising slower than this one.

 But in the year 2024, I didn't expect it to be a fast, very fast flood.

 So here's how it went :

Before Friday 13 SeptemberA week before the flood started, Chiang Rai Province was getting a heavy and worst flood ever seen (please watch it in the news)

 So does our city of Si Chiang Mai, which is located close to the river Mekong, which in recent weeks has been overflown with water from the river that rises through the pipe in the city, which in some spots of the city will have a flooded area, mostly in the low street.

 This is common in recent years where the water is rising more than usual in August and September in recent year, I was worried that the water might be high enough to cause a flood, but what I don't know is that this year is "it"

 Friday 13 September :This week was not good for me, because I had brain fog, couldn't think of anything creative (I suspect that I lack sleep) and the water levels were dangerously higher than before, it started to leak over the pipe hole in the neighbourhood, so in the household, we started to watch out for flooding which might happen in the evening, and carry the stuff into the higher level to prevent it from soaking.

That afternoon I discovered a Flood Hub from Google which is a flood level tracker from the Google which I found it on my Instagram page or maybe Facebook, after I checked it out, I found that it might happen to be flooding today, so in the household, my entire family start to watch the level around the house and be prepared for the flood.

In the evening time, the water level did rise as expected, so we packed the things that were important and ready to move out if the flood hit the house, I packed my essentials of books, a typing keyboard and other things into my luggage and my shoulder bag and hot foot it out of the house once it reaches the floor level of the house (see the photo below for the before and the after of the flood)

After checking the situation in the street in front of the house, the flood kept getting worse, so the entire family decided to split, my youngest brother and my grandmother will be sheltered in the neighbour's house which is high enough from the flood level, meanwhile, dad, mother and my younger brother will stay in the car which park in the street and check the situation, in case of the flood rise high to the street level, they will move to the main street which is higher than the street in front of my house.

After settling down in the temporary shelter, I used the Power Saving Mode on my Samsung A31 to preserve the power catch up on the situation in the specific design app (including the Flood Hub) and check the Facebook group of my local people in my district (using the cellular Internet I buy beforehand in the evening time.

I tried to sleep, but I was worried about the level of the flood that rising so fast that it might rise to the shelter level, so I decided to stay up all night to watch the situation, even worse, the electricity was cut out for safety, which turns off the electricity in the entire neighbourhood and the fan that in the house, which is bad because there is a lot of mosquito in the shelter than before, but hey, at least I have friends who singing in my ears. Saturday 14 September:After sleeping for about 1 hour or less in the time between 4-5 am, I woke up to the unseen site that I rarely saw in my town: a flooded neighbourhood where the brown colour water rises to my leg level, and my grandmother decided to move the shelter to the Rice Noodles Shop in the main street, which is high enough to live temporarily (the shop opened by my relatives) meanwhile my brother and the parent are living in the temporarily made shelter consist of the pickup truck and the three-wheel vehicle (the motorcycles and the bicycle are also on the high level)

When I and my grandmother arrived at the shelter with my motorcycle and all the things (clothes that had been saved before the flood level hit and my bag full of books and other goodies to work on the article), I felt relaxed a little bit.

After I ate the food and brought myself some snacks from the shop that was Side by side with the Rice noodles shop, the sky was filled with rain in the afternoon times, and the street soon filled with rescue cars (mostly pickup trucks and big trucks, because the regular sedan can't enter the flooded areas)

So I went to shower myself and hit the sack while watching the situation on my phone.

Sunday 15 September:After a good sleep which gently lifted away my brain fog for a little bit, I and my grandmother rode the motorbike to the parents' shelter, e and my younger brother decided to slowly walk to the flooded house to pick up a few things from the house while the water level is stable (for a bit in that time).

The level of the flood is higher than I expected it to be, with the highest height going to my belly (in the lower part of my belly but not high above the big belly)

In the house, the flood level is calf deep but not higher than the highest level, everything in the house like TVs (one old LG​ which doesn't work and the unknown brand one which still works fine) table fans, cloth and bed are in the high level of the house.

After crossing the flooded street to the higher ground and storing the things in a safe place, I and my grandmother headed back to the shelter to spend time resting.

Monday 16 September:On a Monday, the water level I checked on the website was higher than three days ago (the highest in the entire timeline) we received the Survival Items courtesy of my relatives who live in the capital city of Nong Khai, including boxed foods, instant noodles and water, so my entire family spending time giving out the items to others who been affected by this flood.

Tuesday 17 September. After a not-so-good sleep, I received the news that the water level had dropped to a level that it could access the house, my entire family decided to go in and started to clean the house while the water level dropped down (slowly)

The garage (car fixing and car paint service, which is sided with the house) is still flooded; the house is now accessible, so we spend the morning time trying to clean the house while we can, getting rid of the worm which stuck in the walls.

But there's a problem: the tap water, which we expected to be useful, was not strong enough, and the power was so low that it would make Magikarp Splash look like hyperbeam; how can we fix this problem? By using the water source we have at the side of the house!

By using the special machine that allowed us to suck up the water from the garage to the house, we were able to clean the house with the power of the water that flows better; although it is dirty to use the muddy water to clean, it is only solutions to do.

After the tired cleaning session, we rearranged the house to the temporary mode, where we slept and cooked and used the toilet, but did not rearrange the stuff that we put in on the high spot.

The worst part was that there was a storm called Yagi Typhoon hitting Vietnam and the top of Thailand, we worried that it might hit us with mighty wind, but as it turned out, it was just rain, which made us worry less about the wind but more about the collected water which might be another flood.

Wednesday 18 September - today. The flood was starting to drop rapidly, the streets were now full of mud, and the people were now starting to clean their houses, although some neighbour districts were still flooded, Si Chiang Mai was slowly starting to go normal again in slow time, and we decided to not do anything that would make us tired to preserve energy and watch the situations.

The problem after the flood is not only cleaning your house, but the street is now full of dust; whenever someone drives fast over it, it will release the dust into the air, making it look like Mad Max.

Of course, Si Chiang Mai is not the only district to be flooded by the Mekong River, as the time I write this newsletter, many provinces and districts like Phayao, Ayutthaya and Many more are in the flash flood disaster, so please watch the news to see more details.

It might happen again next week, next year or a decade, but for now, as the rain is dropping on the roof gently, EvolGarlic here will keep an eye on it.

And for those who are in the flooded area, I send you a big hearty will power to you to pass this disaster and a special thanks to all of those who put themselves in danger to rescue others who were trapped in the flooded areas.

That's a wrap for today's edition of EvolGarlic's Article Pelican Newsletter on Substack! For those who thirst for more of EvolGarlic's enlightening content, consider becoming a subscriber to the Pelican. Free subscribers will receive tantalizing articles straight to their inbox, while paid subscribers gain access to the full buffet of articles. Should you wish to support EvolGarlic's literary escapades, feel free to visit EvolGarlic's Ko-fi page. Your donations contribute to the acquisition of a shiny new ThinkPad, a camera, and other essential gear that empowers EvolGarlic to craft even more captivating content. A heartfelt thank you for your readership, and anticipate the excitement of the next article!https://ko-fi.com/evolgarlicentertainment

Friday 13th September, at night time.