A day of rain in the desh

I am in the process of preparing an entry on climate change and how it will affect Bangladesh; however, the rain which has consumed Dhaka for the last couple of days deserved a special mention! It started Thursday night with a fantastic thunder and lightening storm followed by a massive downpour. The rain continued on and off over the weekend, but nothing in anyone’s wildest imagination could prepare us for Sunday!
I woke up to rain which isn’t unusual as we are in the Monsoon Season; however, this was endless rain, and it rained and rained. My presence was required at a RMMRU workshop, which although it was located only 20 minutes rickshaw ride from my home, was made very difficult by the severe traffic and constant downpour. Needless to say, by the time I reached the Brac Inn I was ‘slightly’ wet. The initial speeches of the day were interesting and informative, but after tea I began to think of all the work I needed to be doing before my rapidly approaching departure. With what seemed to be a break in the rain, I set off from the workshop in search of a rickshaw. I found one after a 15 minute walk and jumped on thinking I had escaped the worse, little did I know…
As my rickshaw wallah and I made our way down the foot deep water logged back streets behind Gulshan Avenue, the skies once again opened and let it all out. The rain bucketed down upon the streets and within seconds my raincoat and umbrella were of little use. Cars passed by without slowing and with their passing raised waves of water over us. All around people were wadding knee deep in water, some trying to find escape or shelter from the fury of the water, some having resolved that being wet was the only option left to them. I reached my destination wet and cold, but I was there and for the rest of the day I at least had shelter and a dry form of transportation. The rain continued for the remainder of the day, and Dhaka woke up this morning to some incomparable pictures in the newspapers and on the news channels – people driving their cars down main roads with water up past the windows, children being carried on their parents backs through rivers of water, and general destruction left behind by the unforgiving and unrelenting water. People have begun the cleanup, but the threat of more rain lingers on the horizon and in the sky above, continuously taunting us.
The pictures are from: www.thedailystar.net