Chapter 2
The Flood
A Tale of Human Resilience
As the rain poured, Marie's heart raced with fear. Memories of past floods flooded her mind. They had to reach Kelvin's aunt's place on the hill, fast—before the waters rose too high.
Kelvin rides his family to his Aunt under the rain towards the hilltop to ensure their safety in the event of any flood
By the time Kelvin got his family to safety, the level of water has risen to the knee level. Kelvin see a lot of people trying to protect their property and tries to rush down to help
He trips and falls, he begins sliding fast as the ground is slippery.
He almost hits his head on a timber wall. He lands his back on a tyre wall, he grunts out of pain, soaked in water, he stands ups and sees how the rain keeps tearing away the slums.
By that time, the flash floods were taking charge fast, forcing the homeless to scatter in search of a better shelter and the only reliable one was BrookeFields Stadium
Murray Town Barracks, HQ, Few Hours After Flooding started.
The news about flooding in the slums spread to police, rescue teams and Military channels, as soon as the information spread, rescue teams and strategies were deployed.
Kelvin looking at the mudslide descending fast down the slope, his eyes widen and thoughts run through his head, meanwhile we hear cries.
The mudslide keeps coming down fast, forcing Kelvin to act fast too. Kelvin tries to running away to the other side of the valley, but the mudslide catches up with him and knocks him over he lands in a puddle of water as the mudslide engulf homes.
Kelvin stands up fast, goes to a make shift warehouse and rests, as rain and mudslide intensifies.
Kelvin makes it to safety, takes a deep breathe and he closes his eyes, we see blurry vision.
Freetown International Hospital
Few hours later after the floods hit Freetown. The government and other authorities managed to deploy resources to save hundreds. By that time nearly 140 people were found dead and nearly 400 missing.
Kelvin grabs a plastic bag, takes his phone out wraps it in plastic, stores it on a tree, then rushing towards the valley.
He spots a woman, faced with water at chest level, stuck under a collapsed bridge.
Kelvin grabs a rope he found on the floor. He ties the rope to a tree few meters behind, wraps the rope on his waist. He navigates to the woman, who grabs him hard and drop him in water, Kelvin emerges calms her down as other people call for his help stuck in another collapsed house.
Military officers and rescue teams continue to unearth collapsed homes and remove survivors and pilling up dead-bodies in vehicles.
They news rooms are also busy finding facts and figures for their headlines
Sierra Leone Herald Hq.
The Sierra Leone Herald was the nation's top newspaper and Usman Kamaru was a seasoned investigative journalist who wanted a last big story and the disaster was his bucket list.
Meanwhile, the death toll kept rising
The President, FRANK GAI GAROMA was quick to deliver a state of emergency address
The Brookfield Stadium was a reliable shelter for hundreds of displaced families.
Hundreds of people lining up for supplies from rescue teams with green vests, military officers and health attendants. We see tents set up in the corridors. We see hundreds of kids, homeless people seated in the upper section of the stadium.
Although the disaster wrecked havoc to thousands, still another disaster emerged amid the shelter centers. Under the flash floods, evil people took advantage of the vulnerable groups.
Resources were scarce and security was low. As bad and good people needed shelter, there was little vulnerable groups could do.
Gangs were used to corrupt and weak security systems and take advantage, but this time proper security personnel didn’t flinch.
In the mist of all the chaos, Kelvin was focus on saving as many people as he can.
The rain keeps getting stronger and more mud descending in the hill-foot.
Kelvin reached his limit rushes to the hilltop and shelters with the rest of the victims.
Next
Chapter 3