Karaoke Don't Stop You Til Get Enough Mp3 Flooding

It's been raining like crazy here all week. Hainan (province) is seeing its worst flooding in decades; hundreds of thousands of people evacuated from their homes. Real flooding, like where people lose their houses. According to the latest news, there's one person dead and three missing. Here in Haikou (city) it's not nearly as bad as in some of those other towns and rural areas, but it's definitely the worst flooding I've ever personally seen.

Here is a link to a picture slideshow from the Chinese news (Xinhua) if you want to see some pictures from here in Haikou. They're not incredible flood pictures, but it's pretty much what it's really like here now. (It's in English.) Below the link I'll continue describing my experiences.


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2010-10/08/c_13547255.htm

Walking to class today the roads were mostly flooded about 6 inches deep or so. People were still driving, riding bikes, walking. I only saw one car stalled out in the road.

In the places where there are sidewalks to walk on, I walked much of the way to school in ankle-deep water. In the places where there aren't sidewalks, like the alley between my building and the main road, it was mid-calf; walking down the street felt a lot like wading in creeks as a kid. There was even something of a current sometimes, as a car would drive down the main street up ahead and would create actual waves in the water that would flow down this alley. The deepest I had to walk through on the way to class was almost up to my knees; it was at an intersection where it was necessary to come down off the sidewalk (cause it ended) and walk at street level to cross the street, so it was like that all up and down the streets in every direction; no way around it.

I was wearing my sandals (flip-flops), in order to avoid my shoes getting wet. (With the water that high, there was no avoiding my pants getting wet.) I saw some people carrying their shoes in their hands and walking barefoot. But what was really strange was seeing a couple of girls walking, carrying their cheap plastic flip-flops in their hands. Isn't wearing them in the water one of the very things that plastic flip-flops are good for? Although I admit, at one point after I got a piece of branch or something stuck entre my foot and my sandal, I HAD to take my sandal off the pointy annoyance to get out, and when i did so, the sandal started to float away. So maybe Those Girls Were Right in Some Way ...? (I did grab my sandal back Before it got too far.)

After I got on campus, Because of the flooding, the campus "buses" (Actually little electric golf-cart-like vehicles) Were not running so I Had to walk all the way to class. But so did everybody else, Including the teachers, so late except for Everybody Was Who Actually the students live in the building (like I did last year).

Today Was Our First day back after a week off for National Day, and Apparently one of the teachers of one of the Other classes is stranded in Sanya (city on the Other Side of the island) andBecause could not get back Are the roads closed.

I wonder how much this is going to ruin crops and how much that's going to Affect food prices. (Not to mention the well being of Those Who Depend on Their Their farming for living.)

On a lighter note ... On the way back home after class, I saw a fish swimming down the street.

Update: According To this article, Vietnam and Indonesia Are feeling the effects too, and with death tolls Higher Than China (in part due to landslides Caused by the downpour). As for Hainan, this article says, "Were Reported as Saying Meteorologists this week's rains Were The Most Sustained autumn downpour Hainan Had Received Since 1961."
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