Ulaanbaatar has been having very bad storms and flooding for the past week. We arrived back from the countryside to a big storm, roads flooding, small cars washed to the side of the road. The city has no drainage system, so the roads flood within minuites of heavy rain. Lots of rain is not normal for here, hence the lack of drainage, but this summer is really wet. During the first storm our cleaner's ger was flooded with mud and water to almost waist level. The staff all gave her some money to help her replace everything that was destroyed.
On Tuesday the next big storm hit. The news showed pictures of parts of the road collapsing under the weight of vehicles. Some families were shovelling hail stones from around their homes. Today, Wednesday, a third storm arrived in theafternoon. This time I was out on foot, not safe and dry in a car. I was walking home after leaving Sallymae wrestling with a credit card machine at an art gallery.
The thunder had been rolling through the sky for some time, so I thought I might just make it home, but I thought wrong. There are not many places to shelter from the rain on some streets, with awnings not a common building design here. I was passing a bank that had a neo-classical column thing going as the front entrence so I took shelter there with a group of others. The wind was so strong we may as well have been standing out in the open.
There is a common language between strangers sheltering from heavy rain. We squashed in together and placed umbrella's strategically to block as much rain as possible. People made room for an older lady to sit on an upturned metal bin. We smiled together and shuddered together when the lightening and thunder seemed to come at the same time.
In a lull to the rain I started to wade through the puddles and flooded streets towards home. I saw a man and his girlfriend, she was wearing a strappy summer dress and his work suit jacket. I saw a homeless woman and all her bags sitting nice and dry in the foyer of a supermarket. Women in stiletto sandals were balancing on gutters trying not to ruin their shoes in muddy puddles. One woman was wearing black gumboots with her work clothes - she came to work well prepared today! Along the street ladies were hanging out the doors of their mini shops, holding umbrella's for sale.
I was wearing my trusty Birkenstocks, so ended up just wading across roads and through puddles, hoping I wouldn't fall into an open man hole (they are common here). About six street kids surrounded me about 50 metres from my apartment. They were big kids, strong enough to hold me and get my bag if they wanted. But they just laughed and asked for money a few times and then left me alone. I came in the gate to our compound and Alesia and her friend Miki danced towards me, wearing no shoes and soaked dresses. I was quickly warm and dry, but over 2000 people in the city were homeless that night, evacuated by the army as it was considered unsafe for them to stay in their gers on the low-lying land.
Here are some pictures from the BBC
