SVES: Flash flood not a funny number

It came without any warning. The early morning sun was out and about. I even tried teaching my class to sing the oldie but goodie “Blue Skies” song. But shortly before noon Wednesday, Sept. 15, it rained and kept raining for a good hour. In no time, the flash flood swept in. It was déjà vu Tingting, Chaba, Songda all over again.

The build up was quite ominous. A lightning flash accompanied by a resounding thunder intrusively clapped into the 1pm class hour, enough to elicit a spine tingling scream from one of the girls. Then the power went off and a thunderous applause from the students filled the classroom. Approvingly, they seem to have sensed an imminent disruption of classes. But the power outage was short-lived, restored within the half-hour. However, the rain kept pouring.

Rain had also been coming down the slopes uphill toward the mid-island ridge, and in no time, the water runoff congregated, as it normally does, right on the concave of the SVES main gate. The accumulated washout shoots across the parking lot and turns into raging rapids into the fifth grade classrooms, and into an Olympic size swimming pool on the school quad, before it silts the offices of the Principal and Vice-Principal, conveniently positioned on the pathway of the rampaging waters. Cascading down the pathway to the lower grade classrooms, this chronic flow of flash flooding waters poses an incredible threat to life and limb to the young children. Teachers and staff, maintenance crew and administrators have to divert traffic away from crossing any raging waters lest pedestrians lose their balance on the slippery pathways, or worse, an exposed electrical line shoots live current skimming through the waters.

A frantic call was made to one of the government executive offices on Capitol Hill for an official to come and witness the ongoing flooding. Came this incredulous reply, “How could it be flooding in San Vicente when we are having bright sunshine on Capital Hill?” So, OK, someone at the other end tried to be capriciously comical. But flash flooding is not a funny number to the children, parents, teachers, staff and administrators at San Vicente Elementary School.

The scheduled staff meeting shot, SVES principal Janet Villagomez remained composed even as she stood with rolled up pant sleeves on above ankle-deep water. Though visibly dismayed once again, specially after sandbagging strategic locations that was hoped to divert as well as stem water flow from critical areas, she obviously was dreading the thought of the classrooms to be dried up and cleaned out again. Vice principal James Rayphand, who normally heads the cleanup crew, may very well have decided to forego shaving until the drainage issue within and around San Vicente is structurally dealt with.

Water had not quite receded when the school buses came in but the pedestrian traffic was orchestrated well enough to have avoided any serious mishaps. Ironically, two sixth graders were holding their clipboard for parents’ signatures to a plea to the CNMI Legislature for immediate assistance to the chronic flooding at SVES. Without a doubt, they will be doubling their efforts in the morning.

Meanwhile, out came push broom and the water hose.

Jaime R. Vergara
SVES