What it means to survive A flood

Two weeks after the River Nyamwamba flooded into parts of Kasese, one man recounts how he made it out alive.

I think I’m God’s message to mankind, particularly the people of Kasese, that He exists and that He is a Mighty God. The way He enabled me to slip from the grasp of death, still defeats my understanding. Well, I believe His message has been received, judging by the passion with which people congratulate me and praise Him whenever they see me.

Of course there are the stubborn ones, those who see the lighter angle of my predicament. Whenever I meet this lot, they make jocular remarks like; my friend, the angel of death has asked me to remind you to go and “eat your hen”.
Others tell me that I’m lucky that my ordeal took place on a public holiday (Labour Day), when the angel in charge of stamping visas on the passports of folk destined for death, had taken a day off.

The start of an ordinary day
My name is Yusuf Mulwahale, a 48-year-old father of six. May 1 was like any other day, save for the fact that it was a public holiday, which meant that I was not going to work.
After having breakfast at around 9.30am, my wife and I left our house to buy food from Katiri market, which is a few metres away. After buying the foodstuffs, we intended to go to Kasese town where my other house is, to spend quality time with the children.
On the way to the market, I noticed that River Nyamwamba was carrying more water than usual. Even its babbling had increased. When we reached the market, it started drizzling.
The clouds were very gray, signalling that it was going to rain more. I suggested to my wife that we should return home and only come back after the rain had stopped. We ran.

First signs of trouble
Hardly had we settled in the house when I heard a colleague in the neighbourhood shouting at the top of her voice that, “You people, run for your dear lives, the river has burst.” I responded by looking through the window, where I saw that the river had deluged but it had not yet burst its banks.

I dashed to my bedroom, picked a bag in which I keep my valuable documents and moved out with my wife, heading towards the Kilembe Mines Hospital, which seemed safer.
Meanwhile, the rain had increased. When we were about to reach the hospital, my wife reminded me that I had forgotten my childrens’ academic documents. Aware of the extent of the challenges they would go through, if the documents became drenched, I decided to go back and pick them. Besides, nothing signalled that my house was going to be affected by the overflowing river.

I hurriedly walked to the house, entered the bedroom where the box in which the documents are, was, and I started picking them. Suddenly, my feet felt cold, despite wearing gumboots. I looked down and realised that the water had entered the house. Out of fear, I dropped the documents and scooted to the window.

Water everywhere
Lo and behold! My house and those in the neighbourhood had been surrounded by water, which was flowing at such a high speed that I could not even consider the idea of crossing it. I grabbed my umbrella, waded through the little that had trickled into the house, and climbed on to the roof.

When I reached the top of the house, the sight that met my eyes was unbelievable. The river had inundated, burst its banks and was now flowing through our houses. The water was dirty and “lugagged”. It was carrying radios, television sets, goats, chicken, sauce pans, furniture, trees, rocks, and iron sheets. These, it was sweeping away with a lot of ease.

I had no doubt that I was going to meet my death shortly. Thus, I started praying. I was so focused in my prayer because I knew that the God I was praying to is the God that I was about to meet. I wanted to meet Him when He had forgiven my sins.
Meanwhile, the water level was steadily increasing. It started rising beneath the window, then rose to the middle of the window, thereafter moved above the window.

Holding on to hope
Our houses were arranged in rows and my house was the sixth. After the water rose to the roof and covered it, the house would crumble. I saw all the five houses crumble. Next was mine.
I shifted from the end of the roof where the water had risen the most to the end where it was minimal. I saw the first room crumble, the second one, by then I was at the edge of the roof. Then, water abruptly rose and pushed me off the remaining part of my crumbling house.

Fortunately, it pushed me towards a tree which was nearby. I grabbed the tree so firmly because my life, then, depended on it. I used all the strength in me and I managed to climb it. In the tree, I started developing some hope that God was going to save me. I fanned this hope by praying more.

Hope prevails
Eventually, out of the blue, one of the rocks that were being carried by the water stopped beneath the tree. It could not move further because the tree had blocked its path. About 20 minutes later, a flowing log stopped at the other side of the tree. At that point, I had unshaken faith that I was going to survive. I am told that a lot was done to try and rescue me, but in vain. First they wanted to use a grader. This failed because the only grader around was being used to clear a road in Kasese which had been cut off by the water. I’m also told that they tried to hire a helicopter from a rich man around. This also failed because his phone numbers were unavailable.

At around 6.30pm, after staying in the tree for five hours, men from Uganda Wild Life Authority hatched a plan to rescue me, and they were successful. This, they did using ropes. My wife and all the people who had gathered some metres away from the water, to pray for my survival burst into ululation when I reached them. It was only God’s name being praised.

I did not sleep that night because all that was running through my mind were the events of the day. Fortunately, I have since overcome the trauma. I am so grateful that I am still alive because as I speak now, my children might have been orphans and my wife a widow. I urge people to be faithful to God and He will be faithful to them when they need Him the most.

As told to Abdulaziizi K. Tumusiime
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