When I lightheartedly said in my previous post that if you don't hear from me, you need to come and look for me in the Indian Ocean, I did not know what was waiting for me!
I've only slept half an hour in the past 39 hours so am totally exhausted.
We were just about to go to sleep last night around 10, when we heard a rumbling, almost like thunder, and then loud screaming.
It was our neighbour's Airbnb granny flat that was flattened by a mudslide from the school above our road, and my friend was frantic as there was a guest inside. He thankfully made it out in time, but everything inside was destroyed.
We were all wet as the rain was pelting down but our concern was for this young man's well-being when we realized what the noise was.
Side-view of the same building
The rain was relentless; an engineer from Disaster Management came to assess what needed to be done, and when my hubby who is a retired engineer, pointed out that the exposed watermain could blow should there be another mudslide, this guy agreed and went away to do the necessary.
The watermain was not turned off and we were wide awake, anxiously waiting for the team to arrive to take further protective measures, when we heard what sounded like a bomb exploding and then a sound like thunder, rumbling VERY loud!
Hubby immediately said that the watermain had burst, and we heard our immediate neighbours screaming and thought the water had trapped them inside their home.
However, this burst watermain caused a second massive mudslide and smashed through their neighbours' house.
They managed to get out of the house just in time; literally took seconds for that mud and water to smash into their home and destroy it!
Both these buildings are going to need rebuilding from scratch, and this will take a good couple of months.
So, remember I said this was the first time in many many moons that hubby and I are on our own in the house?
Well, last night the family of the young guest from my neighbours' Airbnb, drove through the pelting rain to be with their son. We urged them to stay at home (an hour's drive away), as there were many mudslides and road washaways, but they were determined, and their car landed in a huge hole on a low-lying road close to us, where it had to stay for the night.
My nerves were already fractured, but hubby knows the area very well and drove out to fetch them, so they stayed with us for the night.
Tonight the couple whose home has been destroyed, is staying over with us, plus their two doggies and gorgeous cat who disappeared but made her appearance this afternoon when we took a walk there to see the damage in daylight.
The authorities let them down, but some of the men in our road banded together to make a plan to get this couple out; their garage was still intact, so they waited over an hour to be evacuated as part of our road had collapsed, with deadly mud and water still gushing down.
I will never ever forget the noise when that watermain exploded and mud came down, but my faith in humanity has been restored as everyone on our road helped in whatever way they could, but the guys who risked their lives to evacuate them, without any rescue equipment except determination and using common sense, I salute each one of you!
Does this sound like a typical day for a Silver Blogger? I think not!
Edit to my post, once the dust mud settled, we saw what really happened - the first mudslide took place below the road above our neighbour's home, and the loud 'explosion' in fact wasn't the watermain, it was when the massive mudslide started and then rumbled like thunder straight into our friends' home and down the valley, frightening as hell!
This is day 12 of my attempt at #Hiveblopomo, an initiative of the awesome bizzy Queen Bee @traciyork, encouraging all Hivers to write a blog a day for the month of April. So far, so good, hope I reach Day 30!
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