This is What I Mean by Flash Flooding

For all you fans of the Weather Network out there (you know who you are), here is some footage from the storm we had yesterday. The rain was extremely heavy, but only lasted for about 20 minutes. I took these videos shortly after the worst of the rain had let up. I think it fair to say that drainage is an issue in some areas of the city. Still, I suppose the nice thing about living on top of a continent is that everything drains away sooner or later….

done

A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall

Since I’ve arrived here in Bolivia, I’ve been struck by how much the country has in common with Canada. Both countries display incredible natural diversity. Bolivia ranges from snow-topped peaks to the wide altiplano, to the eery badlands, to the rain-soaked Amazon basin; Canada in turn one moves from B.C.’s temperate rainforest to the frigid arctic, to the Rocky mountains, to the wide open prairies, to the lake strewn Canadian Shield, to the Atlantic maritimes. Both countries feature contentious relations between central and regional governments, and both countries have had a troubled history with respect to their indigenous peoples.

Now, there’s another common link: the weather. People like to talk about the weather in Canada and Bolivia, and with good reason — it has the potential to change lives in both countries, and on occasion even to end them. Bolivia has once again declared a state of emergency in response to the intense flooding in recent days. Reports suggest that as many as two dozen people have died across the country in the deluge; more wet weather is on the way.

We have had the chance to experience this phenomenon first-hand, as La Paz is right in the thick of it. Yesterday I watched the rain advance in a wall from the 12th story patio outside Manuela’s office.