Guest Post (from our friend, Karen)

At 2 am this morning (Thursday, Jan. 21) I heard shouting and noise at our mission base. As I woke up I listened to the noise outside and heard extremely loud roaring water noises that sounded like the most torrential rain close by but not over my house. Also, with the shouting of the people on the base I began to think that we were being broken into. Very soon I heard them shouting my name for me to get out of the house. I took my handbag with my camera and computer and opened the front door only to find flood waters rising quickly outside. I walked through near waist deep water to the top story of the director's house and sheltered there on the verandah with everyone else watching the water rise very quickly.

I thought for sure everything in my house was now floating inside! I couldn't worry about that - I was safe and even had the bonus of my computer and camera. Many people from the timber yard next to us came for shelter with us as they had no where else to go. Many Mum's with newborn babies and young children came wanting shelter. We sat on any small piece of floor we could find on the verandah or in the house and watched and watched all morning until daylight. There was not a thing we could do to stop the water. Loud crashing noises made us question if it was a small house being washed away or a fence.

Most of our security fences and concrete walls were smashed down by the rushing water and the offices downstairs were flooded out with thick slippery mud covering everything. Our security guards ended up going around the property in a canoe! We were so thankful when we first saw that the water was no longer rising but beginning to slowly go down. There was no way in our out of our area and all the locals and those who have lived there for over ten years keep saying that it is the worst flooding they have ever had there even though they have had several big floods. The water was still rushing like rapids from the mountains to the river and then through our land. It was quite a sight!

We fed all the locals sheltering in the house with rice and soup for breakfast and then heard that we were to evacuate. After over 8 hours sitting outside on the steps or the verandah, we got to the side of the river and were taken by motorboat to an area where we could access the main road and be picked up from there. Pray for those who have stayed behind. We heard as we evacuated that two young children from a family were swept away by the water in their sleep last night and were found at daylight this morning dead. Please pray for this family who are suffering from so much loss and everyone else affected through loss of houses and food gardens and anything else.

At daylight I found out that the water did not reach inside my house thankfully but was not far off. That is a small thing though compared to everything else. All this is the effect of a cyclone and flooded river affecting an area and I am sure that the logging around here has made it worse too. I keep hearing reports of the rain continuing for some days yet and more cyclone activity so appreciate your prayers. Pray that the rain stops and that we are all able to get cleaned up and start afresh for many. Going through this has made me understand more what the Solomon Islanders experience when flooding happens here. Such a different perspective now.