How’s Africa? – An Epic Storm

We’ve entered the rainy season again here. You might remember from my post about the rainy season that we can expect a couple big storms during those months. 

Wednesday last week dawned sunny and warm. It was the first truly sunny day we’d had all week so we took advantage of it. The older boys and James helped Athen dig stumps out of the yard while the younger kids and I cleaned house. We hung laundry because it was sunny and the laundry would dry fast.

I needed to go the Wednesday market at Rwebikoona. I’d been putting off a big shop there for weeks, only getting the few little things we needed to get by. James and I went down there and stopped at all our normal places — Elizabet who just had a baby a couple months ago, the lady who sells me beans and teaches me numbers in Runyankore (we got on better this time than last time!), the lady who sells green beans (and gave me double what I thought she was going to!). It was crowded and hot but the sky was clear except for a few high, fluffy clouds. 

As we were leaving, I noticed the huge cumulous clouds were forming into cumulonimbus in the distance.  We’d been feeling like a storm was brewing all day. Everyone was crabby, even our dogs. I pointed to the clouds and said, “Yep, there’s the storm forming over there!” James agreed with me.

Sure enough, by sunset, storm clouds rolled in. We could see lightning in the distance. A breeze picked up. It didn’t seem that bad.

Then it hit. Sheets of rain came down. It hailed. The rain blew in our windows and doors, even though the doors were shut. We all hurried outside to get pictures. I was able to photograph the lightning.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. When the real storm hit, I thought for sure the roof was coming off our house. Power went off. The storm roared its deafening noise above us. We had to yell at each other to be heard. I’ve only seen a couple storms that bad in my life. All the locals I’ve talked to (Athen, our landlady) say they haven’t seen a storm this bad in 20 years.

The worst of the storm had blown over by the time we went to bed. It rained all night and most of the next day. 

We were able to see the storm damage the next morning. Many of our banana trees blew over and we had a large crack in our wall. Athen was able to replant the trees and they’re already growing. Power was back on by late morning, which surprised all of us.

We had it easy. Around the corner from us the entire front of their wall fell into the yard. We’ve seen downed power lines and poles laying in people’s fields. Our neighbor’s field was almost washed away. He’ll have to replant. A power line in another neighbor’s yard keeps shorting. It explodes with a shower of sparks and our power goes off. It’s happened 5 times since Sunday morning and they keep repairing it.

Worst of all, in Rwebikoona, 12 people died in flash flooding. My heart is breaking about this. We were there earlier in the day. At that time of day, the market is usually crowded, people rushing around to get last minute foodstuffs on the way home from work. Then the vendors have to pack up their things and get home. I’m hoping and praying none of my friends were among those who lost their lives.

We all know the old saying, when life gives you puddles, you should run in them. 😉 My youngest daughter decided to take advantage of all the puddles and rain we had on Thursday. She ran around outside in it, screaming and laughing until she was cold and drenched. It brought a spark of joy to the whole situation.