Vol 31 Doorbell

Blogger.com has a new feature they're trying out- video. This is a feature I have been hoping they would add so here goes my first try. Sorry it's not more exciting. If it works I'll add others. Let me know if it works for you, or doesn't.



By the way, my water seems to be permanently back and, drum roll please, I have DSL internet at my apartment now. Now if only I had a chair. I have to sit on my living room floor to use it. Katie, our practice manager, has offered me a plastic patio table and chairs to borrow until I can get to the IKEA in Dubai to buy furniture. I will have to take her up on it as my back is killing me using my laptop on the floor.

Vol 30 Eman

Eman and her husband Yasser and 2 year old son went to Eman’s father and mother’s farm the day of the storm. Her parents live near Quaryyat, a large city south-east of Muscat. I think she went because she was worried about her father, who had surgery a short time ago. Eman’s brother was also there. Yasser, Eman and her brother took turns watching for signs of flooding through the night.

At 4:00 in the afternoon the next day the flood came. 10 feet of water rose and stayed for 2 hours. They watched as goats, cows and chickens were carried away by the water and drowned. Yasser told me he watched as a 10 foot by 10 foot electrical transformer box was carried away. Cars were carries away.

They stayed on the second floor and looked out the windows until the water passed. Eman told me “Susan, it was too horrible. I watched as people died before my eyes.” Their neighbors were lost. Mother, Father and three children. She saw naked women float by, dead. Her parents house was ruined but they were all safe.

When they were able Yasser, Eman and their son made their way outside and started walking. They were worried about Yasser’s parents and cell phone service was down. They walked for three hours in the sun and muck when a helicopter picked them up and brought them back to Muscat.

When they arrived at their house, which they share with Yasser’s parents, brother, sister-in-law and housemaid, they found it soaked in mud and water. They live in one of the worst hit neighborhoods in Muscat. These photos were taken by Yasser’s brother.

This was taken from the second floor. It’s their garage. You can just see the top of their garden wall which is about 5 feet high.

View of the street.

There were three cars parked inside the yard. Here are two of them. The one on the left has a car cover on it. To protect it from the storm.

Not all of the water came in as they have front steps into their house. But enough did.

The yard after the water receded and one of the cars. Note the cages.

One bird survived, the rest drowned.

The other 2 cars.

They were pushed together.

After the sun had dried the mud in one of them a bit.

Their once beautiful sitting room. Under the muck are once beautiful rugs.

Which now look like this.

The clean-up. That’s Yasser’s Father on the left, then his Mom, then the housemaid. The two guys in the background are Indian workers that they hired to help them clean. In an ironic twist, all the Indian workers in the city have been charging 70 rial per day to help everyone with their cleaning and hauling. This makes me smile because they are usually so woefully underpaid making about 1/2 rial per hour. That’s about $1.30 US. If someone is going to profit from the flood it’s nice that it’s the underdog.

Here’s the front of the house. That’s an AC unit, (air conditioning), hanging funny.

The next day. Everyone all over the flooded areas just started throwing their ruined possessions into the street. Driving through these streets now is like driving through the worst ghetto in the worst 3d world country you can think of. And as the mud dries it’s starting to smell. People have been using the water in the wadis for washing and cleaning and are getting rashes. Eman showed me her shoulders and arms the other day and they were covered in angry red bumps. It is so strange to think that just over a week ago these were really pretty neighborhoods. Yasser and Eman’s bedroom is on the 1^st floor. Everything was ruined. Their bed. Their clothes. The son’s toys.

This is their son, Mohammed. He is a total sweetie.

When Eman showed me these photos, my heart broke. I have been to their home several times. The whole family is friendly and welcoming. Eman often brings delicious curries and sweets for my lunch that she or her housemaid has made with me in mind, knowing I’m a vegetarian. I’ve always asked her how it was made hoping one day to be able to cook them for myself. Last month She brought me a large jar of Masala curry powder that Yasser’s Mom makes from spices she roasts and grinds herself. My refrigerator was finally delivered yesterday and I bought a hot plate and some groceries. Tonight I made my first curry, following the directions Eman has given me and it is actually yummy. Tomorrow morning I will make rice and take it and the curry to Eman for lunch. I’m also starting a collection for her at the office. I tried to get Eman to tell me how I can help her family. No matter what I suggested she politely refused. That night when I asked my friend Mahfood about it he explained that if you ask an Omani if you can help them they will refuse. But if you help them, they will accept. The trick is not to ask. My Mom had asked if people here typically have house insurance so I asked Eman. Nope. So sad.

OK, I think that pretty much wraps up my storm reports. The people of the city are cleaning up the mess. The stores are reopening, although not the ones in the Qurum area where that McDonalds is. People are returning to their jobs and we are busier than ever. We have seen many more emergencies than we usually do. There were quite a few dental clinics damaged by the floods and so we have taken on some of their patients. The Sultan has refused disaster relief from other countries. He wants to handle it all himself. He has already donated 7 million rial of his own money to help his people. That’s about 18 million US. A drop in the bucket, but a good start.

A final photo. I took this across from Mahfood’s house, which was miraculously not damaged. You can see the little boy’s bed behind the crumbled wall. He’s fine, that’s him on the left.

Next time you grumble that they were out of your favorite bread at the store or a vase you loved breaks imagine losing everything. This is the technique I used whenever I didn’t have water over the past week. (After I wrote that my water was back, I lost it again. And again).

Vol 29 Water

Oh, the joy of water was sooooo short lived. I had 2 days with water and now it's been 2 days without. They are rotating water among the neighborhoods. The desalination plants are still not operating at capacity. So I'm back to mini-bathing. Sigh. But I am definitely not complaining. I'm grateful for I do have and all I didn't lose that so many did. My fridge was delivered this morning so I'll finally be able to buy groceries!. Here are some more photos and then I must fly.


This shot of the highway looking like a mini Niagra falls was taken by my friend Yasser. He took all of these photos on his phone camera. This is right by that Mc'Donalds.

And this is a nice one of the highway all torn up.
And this is the road in front of the Starbucks that I showed you He was on the other side of the missing part looking towards us. Firas and I had been trying to hook up with him and his roommate so we could all go together to see the damage. We were not able to meet with them that day as the city was divided in half by all of the damaged roads.

Vol 28 Gonu Update 2

My water came back yesterday morning! That shower felt soooooo good. Many people are still without water so I am grateful to be able to bathe and flush and do some laundry. Our PRO, Ahmed, gave me some photos that he took and some he found on the internet. Thought I'd share some of them with you. The ones from the internet have annoying text across them- sorry.

A photo which shows the force of the water.

Huge waves, early in the storm.

This is all too common a site in the hardest hit neighborhoods. People are having to throw away everything. The streets are lined with furniture, appliances, dead cars and clothing.


There are stacks of cars everywhere. Imagine the force of the water to just scoop up all these cars and plot them down where ever.

Also everywhere are huge uprooted trees.

After the highway gave way there was a pretty waterfall for a day or so.

These gas trucks were in the wrong place when the highway gave way.

A firetruck and an army truck that were in the wrong place.......

I did say I wanted to see a photo of the McDonald's with the water to the roof......

The city is hard at work cleaning up the debris. So many people are without cars and homes. Everyone is being generous. Eman returned to work today. I'll tell her story when I have more details and the photos that she has taken.

I bought a fridge last week and now I am waiting for them to deliver it. It will be so nice to have food in my apartment. I'm going to buy a hot plate so I can cook while saving for a stove. Then I just need a trip to IKEA in Dubai for some cheap furniture, dishes and curtains.

I'll try to get up early tomorrow and get some more photos before going to work. Thanks for all of the support for my blog. I enjoy writing it; sharing my adventures. I think about all of you as I write it.

Vol 27 Gonu Update

Alrighty then, found an internet cafe open. Internet still not working in my apartment. Something about the IP address. Glad I gave them my money!

Also not working in my apartment, or anywhere in Muscat, is water. Day 5 no water. I did manage to flush my toilet last night, (thank God), by bringing home one of those water cooler jugs full of non-potable water. My apartment smells ALOT better now.

I have a water cooler in my kitchen and I had a full container when the hurricane hit. I still have about 1/2 left so I'd say I'm conserving well. I wash my hair with two coffee cups worth of water and use a wash cloth to bathe. I will sooooo enjoy that first shower when they restore the water. Not sure when that will be. Could be tomorrow, could be 10 days. There are conflicting reports.

My sister sent me a link to someone else's photos of the damage. You can check it out: by clicking here.

The photos there are of the Qurum area. One of the hardest hit. Commercial and residential and the highway goes right through it. Or it used to. Those photos that look like a waterfall are where the highway has fallen. By the time we went there to check it out they had barricaded it so I was not able to get photos.

Also in that area is that fantastic Toyota dealership, (Vol 8). The 3d and 4th pages of photos from the above link are of the cars in their storage yard. They were all picked up and swept away. They all got caught up and formed a dam. This was part of why the flooding in this area was so bad. The water rose to 2o feet, stayed there for about 1/2 hour and then the water rushed. Most of the water had gathered in the commercial area under the highway by the round-a-bout photos I showed you. There are several mini-malls and strip malls in this area. Also a two story McDonald's. The McDonald's had water to the roof. Wish someone had a photo of that. Groceries from the large grocery store in that area, (the only source of Boca Burgers and Ben & Jerry's), were strewn all over the place.

The thing to remember in all of these photos is that everywhere there is dirt and gravel there used to be roads, sidewalks and landscaping. So weird to see it all stripped away.

I found this photo online. It shows the Starbucks on the beach mid storm, (after the road had already fallen).

Everything on Eman's 1st floor was ruined. But she and her husband spent the storm at her Mom's house. When I wrote the last blog we had not heard from her yet, nor had her husbands Mom, so we were kinda worried. Didn't mention it in the blog because I didn't want to jinx it. Turns out her Mom's whole house was destroyed and they all had to be airlifted out of there. For the first couple of days helicopters were constantly overhead, picking up people from the roofs of their houses. Eman was one of those. They are all fine, including their 18 month old. Her Mom's neighbors a few houses away were all lost. Husband, wife and three children. The death toll is around 61 now.


Here's another photo from the internet. That's a car in the middle.

I wasn't sure how I was going to be of service at first- there are so many Indian expats here and they do all the "menial labor" kind of jobs. They are getting thing cleaned up quickly as best they can with no water. I was driving down the highway yesterday and they had closed 2 of the 3 lanes going my direction and about 150 Indian men were sweeping all the dust (used to be mud) off the road. The fallen trees and limbs are almost all picked up. The fire dept is all men here and I still have not made contact with any of the ambulance services here. They are all private, attached to the individual hospitals and clinics. Our office has a water tank on the roof so we have been open the last two days while other offices have not. We've been seeing what feels like every toothache in the city. So I am helping in the way that I can. Working long hours.

I just got a message on my cell phone, (in Arabic, had to have one of the cafe guys translate it), saying that when the water is restored it will not be potable. For cleaning only. Dare I hope? Will I be able to shower in the morning?

Thanks for all the warm wishes, I will give Eman a huge hug when I see her from me and all who love me.

Vol 26 Hurricane Gonu

Not sure if news of the weather here has reached any of you but we just had a hurricane/cyclone here. Hurricane Gono. It rains so infrequently here they are unprepared when it does. The rain hits the surrounding mountains, rushes down in wadis and floods the city. This is the worst storm here since they started keeping records in 1945. It rained hard for about 24 hours and when the storm finally hit shore we had wind to contend with as well. The storm had originally been labeled a class 5 hurricane by the weather services but by the time it arrived it had been downgraded to a class 2. Thank God. There is so much damage here with just a class 2 storm I would hate to see what the city would have looked like with class 5. I’ve seen footage on TV of cities after storms and floods but seeing it first hand is something different. Last I heard there were 32 deaths and another 30 missing so I guess we got off pretty light compared to New Orleans. Still, it’s heartbreaking.

I was holed up in my apartment for all of it, after we did what we could to protect the more expensive equipment at the office. We moved everything out of the treatment rooms, into the hallways in case the plate glass windows blew. They didn’t, thankfully. There was some leakage around some windows and a bit from the roof but that’s it. My building was fine too.

I took this photo from my bedroom window shortly after the rain started 2 days ago. It stopped raining sometime last night. This afternoon Firas came and picked me up and we ventured out in the company SUV to get a look at the damage. Most of the flooding had cleared but everywhere we went there were signs of it. Any road near a wadi was affected. They simply couldn’t contain all the water so they overflowed and then the water had to find new paths. Most of the streets are covered in a thick layer of slippery mud.

This tree near the office is one of many uprooted by the force of the water.

This is the beach by Second Cup, where I spend much time writing these blog posts. The water was fierce.

Everywhere we turned the roads were ripped up. All of the asphalt was ripped away in this parking lot. That vehicle is in a sink hole. We saw parking lots where all of the cars had been picked up and squashed into a corner. Big chunks of highway were washed away and a few times the giant cement barricades that separate the east and west bound lanes were swept away. Sorry, no photo of those things; my camera batteries died at one point and we had to find an open gas station to replace them.

This is one of the main round-a-bouts. It had on and off ramps to the highway above that are gone. It is completely destroyed. These photos were taken at least 12 hours after it had stopped raining and the water was still flowing.

Here’s a close up of that car. Completely crushed. There were overturned cars everywhere.

I’m sorry to say this is the street where Eman lives. This is a couple of doors down from them. I didn’t want to take photos of their place because it seemed insensitive. Eman and her husband, Yasser, were not there, they went to Eman’s mother’s house to weather the storm. But Yasser’s Mother was there and she told us that everything on the first floor was destroyed by water and mud. Their beautiful garden was destroyed too. She stood beside our car holding my hand as she told us about the damage. Their neighborhood was one of the hardest hit. There was 6 feet of water in many people’s homes.

This afternoon, as we drove through Eman’s neighborhood, we saw everyone bringing out their possession to throw away. Mud soaked sofas, carpets, appliances.

And we saw of lot of this. People sitting staring at the damage. These women are resting their feet on what used to be their fence.

In all of these photos there used to be sidewalks and roads where all that mud and gravel is.

This is the main road in Eman’s neighborhood. Some people were crazy enough to drive through the deep, swift current. Happily, Firas decided against it.

Occasionally as we were driving the road would just be gone.

Neither Firas nor I had noticed what had happened a little further along as I was taking this picture. We were standing on the road right in front of that fabulous beachside Starbucks (Blog #14) as I took this picture. Big hunks of beach and road were falling into the sea as we watched.

And this is just a few feet further along. The whole road had been washed away. This is one of the main connecting roads here. Many of the palm trees on the beach are gone too.

It is the weekend here and it will be interesting to see how the city reacts to this. I expect they will declare it a disaster at some point, perhaps they already have. I don’t have a TV or even a radio in my apartment so I don’t really know what is going on out there. One huge problem is water. The whole city is without water and some, including Firas, have been without electricity. Something is wrong at the water plant where they convert ocean water to city water. My landlord came yesterday to collect for the internet service that I didn’t even know I had. Apparenty there is a LAN network in the building. When I moved in I had enquired about internet. I guess he switched it on to my apartment without telling me. One of my Indian neighbors lent me a cable and tried to get it working for me but was unable to. So I’m cooped up here with nothing to do but read. Can’t flush my toilet or take a shower. Yesterday I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from start to finish while it rained and rained outside. I haven’t bought a fridge or stove yet so I’m living on microwavable food and bottled water. I don’t even have a chair so I’m just hanging out on my bed. My back hurts and my butt hurts. Firas is going to pick me up again tomorrow afternoon to check out the damage some more and possible buy a fridge. There is no way my car can go to the places we went today. But the road to the office from my place is undamaged so I’ll be able to get to work when we reopen. It’s weird to be cooped up here, I feel like I should be out there helping people but there is an army of Indian workers taking care of it all.

Love to you all back home.