Flood Takes Away Many Innocent Lives

I want to tell a heroic story about a man who saved two people during a flood. It happened July 10, 2011 in Bokhtar city of Khatlon, Tajikistan. That Sunday afternoon, Dilovar planned to invite all of his family. Early in the morning Dilovar and Shakhnoza (Dilovar’s mother) went to a nearby village. They didn’t have a car, so the Dilovar and Shahnoza had to walk by foot.

When part of the journey had passed, there was a dull roar. He walked out of the way. The couple looked at each other fearfully. After standing for a bit, they decided to postpone his visit the next day and turned back. A few minutes later the roar repeated. Dilovar ran hard to the village. From a distance he discerned the figure of his mother-in-law and grandson in her arms. She stood with her back to the gate of the house and could not see how the hill began to melt before their eyes.

The dirty water mixed with stones and rushed to the clay village. The Clay River, as it became known, demolished the two story house of Shakhnoza's parents like a matchbox, buried her mother and Dilovar's son, and continued to run through the gorge. In terror the people rushed to a nearby hill, and quickly climbed to the top. The young man tried to hide from the elements in his own home, but the water overtook him there.

The Clay River spread over the valley. Dilovar ran madly down and cried, calling his son's name. Just when he was waist-deep in mud he stopped. People stood on the hill top, staring with horror at what has become of the green valley. Several men tried to pull Dilovar out of the mud. His wife rushed along the flooded room and cried with grief.

Only a week later could they dig up the dead. Here and there under the dirt lied the corpses of animals. Five lives were claimed by the elements. An earthquake roused the hill, which for several months, like a sponge, absorbed the water fountain. Freed from captivity, the gurgling brook carried its water in dirty slush. I could not believe that the tragedy occurred because of this gentle-as-a-child spring. People were forced to return to their former place of residence.