Flooded Car By Ana María Meneses

Almost twelve or six months, my parents, my brother, and I travel to Coveñas because there, we have a summer house where we can go twice a year. Until now, we have always traveled by car. December 17^th in 2011, we went out from our home at 5:00 a.m. that morning we didn’t take breakfast because it was too early for us.  Everybody in the car were sleeping, except for my father. I remember that my Mom could not rest as she would had liked to because she felt that she had the responsibility as a co-pilot. My brother and I were asleep because we were feeling tired.

Some hours after we left home, we stopped to take the breakfast in Don Matías at a restaurant known as Los Comerciales. The food they sell there is delicious, especially breakfast. We continued with the trip and when we arrived 200 meters before going across the toll of Taraza, we had to stop because one kilometer ahead, The Cauca River flooded the highway and the town, so the cars could not cross the town to continue their normal way.

It was very hot, around 40 ºC, we had stopped in a place where there was a restaurant and some bedrooms; it was like a hotel but an informal one. Everybody that had been traveling that morning had to stop at that place, so all bedrooms were full. As time passed, we were waiting for the good news that we can cross the river, but that news never arrived.

We took our lunch there. During that time, the people who were there saw only big cars (cranes) crossing the toll. Some of the car drivers negotiated with the crane drivers; one of the car drivers said that he would pay him if he could go through on his crane with them in their car, and the crane driver accepted. So many people tried that method and they got to go across.

My father tried to do the same thing, but the crane driver failed to help him. It was around 6:00 p.m.   Suddenly my father decided to go on with our “trip”. When we had crossed the toll, one kilometer later, we found a long line of cars beside the highway. They were waiting that the water got down. We continued until we saw the water and then we drew up. At that very moment, my parents, my brother and I were frightened because we were on the limit to continue or not, so a driver of a big car told my father: “come on, that car can cross the river.” We knew that many cars broke down in the middle of the river or in the flooded highway. Without thinking twice, my father began to cross. Immediately he felt that the car was a little strange, and the water had already reached the windows, the water began to enter the car. The car was flooded and suddenly my brother reminded me that my computer was under the co-pilot seat, so I began to cry and shout, and I tried to get it but I couldn’t but my mother could. So when I checked, the computer was perfectly well and we got across the river. Although our clothes got wet; we, the car, and the computer were good.

I don’t remember at what time we arrived to Coveñas, but we got there. The next day my father had to remove the chairs of the car, so they could get dry. Since that happened, I learned that we can’t put the computer under a chair in a car.

Nowadays when the news says that there are problems on the highway, we travel by airplane.