Atmospheric Rivers

What a week...not only for myself but for the people of British Columbia, Canada.

Record breaking heavy downpours known as "atmospheric rivers" created mudslides (not the tasty beverage), landslides and sinkholes in roads. Towns were evacuated, people were stranded on highways for 12+ hours, thousands of farm animals have drown due to the flooding throughout the province and many more remain trapped by the flooding waters.

After the rain stopped, so did the power. Driving through the streets to get to higher ground, everything was dark: shops, streets, gyms, homes. Everything that usually lit up the world was eerily void of light. Now our food chain supply is depleting as people are panic buying and we are on gas/diesel rashenings.

To put it into perspective...British Columbia received the equivalent amount of rainfall in a 24 hours period, which we usually receive in a month.

British Columbia is in a State of Emergency.

Monday morning, November 15th, I awoke to gurgling toilets which rapidly escalated into raw sewage pouring out of my shower basin; my toilets were literally foaming at the mouth. Connie, Sandy (neighbours) and I spent six hours vacuuming up gallons of black sewer water from my ensuite which was spreading to other areas (of my home) fast. The hazardous waste was coming in faster than the three of us could get rid of it.

My home was experiencing its own "atmospheric river" but not the kind I'd like to swim in, nor jump into its puddles. None of us were wearing gloves, masks and we were all wearing flip flops to save each others homes. We didn't think, we just reacted to the situation, plus my hazmat suit was at the drycleaners that day.

Twenty one units on the first floor of my complex were destroyed or damaged by the sewage, including my own. One woman was renovating her ensuite and didn't have a toilet in place. She said she awoke to a four foot geyser coming out of the hole. She told me that as she swung her feet from her bed to the floor, she landed ankle deep in the raw sewage. She mentioned that she "couldn't see shit without her glasses on, so she couldn't see she was walking in shit to answer her door".

Not only were suites damaged, in some areas our outside walkways were shin deep in the toxic waste. Six hours after bailing out our homes, the power went out. Talk about luck...if you want to call it that. Connie, Sandy and I laughed and laughed. It was either that or cry, and our bodies weren't ready to cry just yet.

Over a hot cuppa tea yesterday, Connie, Sandy and I joked that "Covid was nothing"; we've been exposed to so many other toxins, pathogens and things I don't want to think about. We were joking about how we're now "radioactive". Won't be the first time I've been radioactive. When I was going through Cancer treatments I'd often joke how I glowed in the dark with all the poisons I had running through my veins and organs.

Everyone (in my complex) that I've talked to who has been affected seems to have some form of PTSS - Post Toilet Shit Storm. I felt like I was in survival mode for a few days afterwards and the standing/breathing/touching hazardous waste didn't help. I had headaches, body aches, mental confusion and fatigue for days afterwards.

Although the situation is quite serious and the possible health risks being exposed to raw sewage is astronomical, keeping it lite and laughing is the best way we could, and still cope with what happened to us.

When people say their "shit doesn't stink", let me tell you it does...it really, really does.

***

I want to say "Thank You" to all of my clients who I had to reschedule for this week. To everyone who has emailed me: I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can, my mind is focusing on other things at the moment.

Thank you for your patience.

Although I have been displaced and my home is ripped apart, I'm still here. I've been living out of suitcases and bags at my sister's home, with what I could salvage from my home. Oh and my cat, Sprocket and my dog, Moosey are with me. They seem as appreciative as I am for a place to rest our weary heads.

I went from quiet and serene to chaos and pain in a couple of hours...

It's been a heck of a week!