It’s dark outside (it’s 9.37pm) but I can hear the roaring water outside the shutters. We are about 8 metres above the current water level (which is around 2 metres above the normal height) and approximately 20 metres from the edge of the water.  It’s been raining hard all day and it will rain hard for the next 24 hours, probably.  The house is leaking.  I hear drips somewhere above my head but can’t see any water damage, yet.  Everything is wet it seems.  The wood pile is wet.  The onions are wet.  The wheat is wet.

The typhoon probably hit last night although it’s difficult to see where something like this begins.  It rained really heavy last night and the wind was blowing.  It’s still raining heavy but it’s less windy.  Should we evacuate?  It’s crossed my mind.  I’ve never had to make a choice like this before!  We’ll stick it out.  The river is wide here.  An old woman said that the worst storm didn’t reach the road.  No-one else is evacuating.  The little shop is still selling pot noodles, the post office is still selling envelopes.  It’s sort of reassuring.

Watching the brown water is mesmerising.  It makes me want to jump in.  It’d chew you up and grind you out into pink silt, there’s no way you’d survive. Once again, I’m humbled.  Living here I see the true beauty of nature.