Eta, Iota, flooding, around the Rio and Aeeshah completed – nearly

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The words to describe November are “wet, rain, rain rain, rising waters, muddy, smelly, tedious”. On the bright side we did have some sunny days and many happy moments.

Eta

It all started on November 3rd, with hurricane Eta a cat 4 hurricane.

She brought us incredibly rains for over 3 days. The country was put into a state of emergency, people were missing, massive landslides took out rows of homes, all the bridges were washed away, the roads were not passable, and the rivers rose for over a week, flooding everything near them.

Our little casa which was right on the side of the river was just inches from being flooded when finally the water stopped rising. The waters were rushing, full of debris and quite smelly.

There ended up being nowhere to walk outside as all of the walkways were underwater plus as they are wooden they were very slippery. We could still get the dinghy under the bridge built in the dock and so brought it right up to our door.

Evening cruise to Lake Isobel

The next week, we went on an evening cruise to Lake Isobel on Taylor’s catamaran Cat Tails. Gordon and Gillian gave us a ride over to Catamaran Marina in their launcha.

Before going to Cat Tails we cruised up to Casa Tabano to see how it was fairing in all the high water. It still had several inches before it would have flooded.

The cruise was a fun evening, and a welcome break. We had all taken along drinks and snacks which were enjoyed while we sat and chatted enjoying the hazy sunset.

Walks were limited

We managed a few walks one of which was on my birthday. Pam and Don came along with us, as everywhere was wet and mucky, we chose a route that circled through Fronteras, under the bridge, up over the top of the bridge and back down through Fronteras.

This was followed by lunch at Sun Dog an eatery on the shore of the rio. After a great lunch we went back to Monkey Bay Marina for a stroll around and popped over to Catamaran to visit with friends

Another Sunday, which was another of our few dry days, John and I walked from Ram Marina, across the bridge and all the way to the Castillo, where we hired a launcha to deliver us back to Ram.

It was a lovely walk, not very hot but sunny. I always manage to see lovely sights, the farmland, the birds, flowers along the way.

Our launcha ride was fun. Our driver was very sweet, he treated us like real tourists, slowing and stopping for photos, pointing out different sites, explaining in Spanish all about our route. John didn’t want anyone to see us, he felt embarrassed acting like a tourist in our own backyard so to speak.

Aeeshah boatwork

Our life continued as per normal, the river started to recede: During this time I would go with John in the mornings to Aeeshah, do boat-work and then pass the afternoons sewing or such in the casa. John was still in the process of putting the mast and boom back together again.

He worked with Saul to finish the rudder fiber glassing. Which was finally completed and is an amazing piece of craftsmanship. John also oversaw the bottom of the boat being painted. First the water line was raised by 4 inches then painted, but before the last coat could be applied we had our second category 4 hurricane Iota.

However at the very end of the month the bottom was finally completed. The carpenter Walter came and made us a wonderful back to our bed. The new shaft came all the way up through the very top of our bed. He made a false headboard – It looks wonderful!

Iota

2 weeks after Eta we had Iota, which was actually a category 5 hurricane when she first slammed into Central America. Its winds reaching 250km/h. By the time she reach the Guatemala and the Rio Dulce area she was of tropical storm strength, bringing massive rains.

Rain like nobody can imagine, for days it rained non stop. Now, the river had only just gone down about 12 – 14 inches from its record breaking flood waters due to Eta. So, in no time the river was rising, rising rising. We became really concerned, on the second evening, we had just inches left before the water would be coming in the door. news link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/world/americas/guatemala-hurricanes-mudslide-migration.html

The fellows at Punta Bonito came and raised the fridge and stove onto concrete blocks. I took everything off the floor and put it all on the stools or tables just leaving things like Chico dirt crate which needn’t be moved – so I thought.

Our power went off, we were relying on headlamps, and it was deep, deep, dark, black. Off to bed we went, at 2:00am I stepped out of bed and into water which was a good 2 inches deep. OMG I was not impressed! I splashed off to the bathroom, climbed back into bed with a towel for my wet feet and told John I really wasn’t happy, I suggested we should head out for the boat at Ram. He said, to relax, he was sure everything was fine, that he was tired and needed the sleep.

Well, I was awake for the rest of the night. By 4:00am the water was about 4 inches deep inside our Casa, Chico was between us, looking quite concerned.

At 6:00am I couldn’t handle it any more, I woke John and said we need to get out of here. The water was about 6 inches deep inside even Chico’s litter crate was floating around inside, yes, there was even a current inside!!

The escape from flood waters

Now it is not easy to pack up essentials in the dark, with a headlamp while wading in water and trying to keep everything dry. John went and bailed the dinghy cause it had been raining non stop so it was full of water. I got all the electronics into a backpack inside trash bags, got Chico’s carrier ready, and put as many valuables in a bag. We intended to take them first then return for the rest. Meanwhile the fellow – Lobes – who is part owner and in charge of Punta Bonito came. He was so very sad, didn’t know what to say or do, he was loosing his place but also felt for us too.

Just getting to the dinghy was very difficult, because you could not see where the walkway and docking began or ended, you had to just try to stay between where the posts stuck up a bit out of the water. We left with Chico and the main valuables in the pouring rain just as it was getting daylight. Over to Ram we rode dodging the debris in the swirling river flood waters. At Ram the water had also make its way over the gas station docks. We tied off the dock and hurried to Aeeshah. We were all soaked Chico included. Poor guy didn’t have his litter crate, but I set him up with water and food. We had a quick cup of tea and returned to the casa.

The water was even higher and anything that had been on the bottom shelves was now floating, tinned cat food included. There was a distinct odour of sewage. The water held all kind of debris. I worked as rapidly as was possible to fill bags with our clothes etc. John then put the bags in trash bags and loaded them into the dinghy.

He went off with the next load and left me to continue. It was still quite dark inside the casa as the heavy clouds and tree cover let little light inside, but by the light of a headlamp I managed to stuff everything into bags and then trash bags. Gillian arrived from their casa across from us. She and Gordon were also trying to save all of their possessions. They had stored many boat items, cushions, awnings, etc in their casa in preparation for their boat to be hauled. Luckily the men helped them get everything into one of the big catamaran’s docked in front.

John arrived back from taking the second load, folks had helped him carry/trolley our possessions to the boat. We said goodbye to Gillian and headed to Ram with the last load.

Our cockpit was filled with everything all inside many trash bags. The only casualty was Chico’s litter crate which suffered a cracked side. We were very fortunate! The locals were not, many lost their homes and all of their possessions. It was a very sad time along the rio. By the end of the day we both realised we had not cleaned our teeth that morning as we had been so frantic to move, and so busy getting everything stowed.

Gillian told me a few days later she had a bad foot infection. It was from walking in the dirty water, fortunately she had antibiotics which controlled the infection. The water was and is absolutely disgusting, but nobody had any choice but to walk in and through the flood waters.

The river continued to rise, it came to a record breaking height. Never before had it risen to such a level. Everybody tried to help the local population in anyway possible. The area was a disaster zone. Just going for a walk over the bridge some days later the visual was very disturbing. Looking down from the bridge, homes and businesses flooded out by many feet of water. Refugees and flood victims bathing in the dirty river water, there was nowhere else.

A small family truck passes with mama and papa in front and crammed in the back are their girls, a mattress, toys, possessions saved from the flood waters. Below the bridge I hear a cat crying and crying, looking I see a kitty atop a wall with nowhere to go. Until one sees a disaster zone there are no words strong enough to describe ….. But never, never, through all of this did we see or hear the locals give up, complain, moan, shout, show their dispare they just soldiered on making the best of their bad situation.

Many charities were instrumental in helping. There was a kitchen set up to feed thousands daily, Eric from Los Amantes was the chef. Casa Guatemala went full out getting supplies out to the locals.

They worked tirelessly even after being flooded out of their headquarters. Donations arrived daily, everything from food, blankets, cloths mattresses, as much was needed.

Gillian and Gordon visited and told of how they had secured a very nice casa at Tortugal Marina, on a hill! And they were willing to take Chico. Chico seemed to like his new home and promised to be good.

It was a real strain keeping him in the boat, plus we decided to head home. There was nothing we could do in the Rio, I booked our flights, an Airbnb in Guatemala, and made travel plans. Within a week we had a driver take us to Guatemala City. Along the way we saw just some of the terrible damage from the rushing river waters.