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Photo:
Andreas Bauer
Cars,
rocks, and people were floating on the
water like little toys in the circle,
toward the little market at the south end
of the circle. The height of the water was
almost to the top of the
trees.
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A
Flood in Teheran
Haleh
Hajrasouliha from Iran
A
few years ago, my friend and I were walking at noon
on a street near my home in a northern section of
Teheran. This area is called Tajrish and is well
known because it is a beautiful boulevard that
connects two major traffic circles. It is located
at the bottom of a high mountain.
That
day, the sun was shining in the sky, but the
weather suddenly changed. As we were walking
between the two circles, it started raining very
hard. We started to cross the boulevard to get to
the second circle. It was raining so hard that we
decided to go inside a restaurant instead.
Ten
minutes later, as we were looking outside the
window, we saw that everyone was running away from
something scary. At first, we did not know what was
going on. We went outside the restaurant to see
what was happening. People seemed
shocked.
A
huge flood was streaming down the mountain. We were
standing on a street with higher elevation, so we
could see everything. We were scared. Cars, rocks,
and people were floating on the water like little
toys in the circle, toward the little market at the
south end of the circle. The height of the water
was almost to the top of the trees.
After
a few minutes, the flood's flow was reduced. We
decided to leave the area before the water entered
the street we were on. My friend and I returned to
work. When I arrived there, I called home to find
out if the rest of my family was safe. I found out
that my older brother had not returned home from
shopping in the morning. We were very worried
because he had been missing for several
hours.
Finally,
later that night, we found him at a hospital near
the flooded area. He was injured, but fortunately,
his injuries were not very serious. His head was
cut on the back of his skull.
That
day, approximately 300 people were killed or
disappeared. The flood destroyed a big area. Later,
we found out that a dam had broken as the rain
started. I was so happy and thanked God for
returning my brother to my family. This occurrence
has strengthened my faith.
This story was selected from Julia Karet's ESL
writing project at Chaffey Community College:
The
Look Book Project.
More
natural disaster stories:
The
Northridge
Earthquake
| Earthquake
in Popayan
| The
Taiwan Earthquake
An
Extreme Storm in Moscow
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