Of course there had been warnings. The Met Office issued a statement for ‘the people of Great Britain.’ This statement consisted of a lacklustre attempt to inform us what to do in the event of a flood. Swansea City citizens were to pop down to the Civic Centre and collect 5 sandbags. I ask you…..how are people going to carry 5 sandbags up Constitution Hill?
However, I had noticed the moon was rather bent and I thought that perhaps an asteroid had come down onto the surface and that could cause a high tide like we often have in Swansea. Nobody really believed we would ever face a Tsunami.
George knew about these things: “It’s the tectonic plates see Martha, they must be sliding over each other. Either that, or a volcano has erupted at the bottom of the sea. A volcanic eruption might be happening thousands of miles away.”
Whatever the cause of the great wave, we just didn’t believe it would happen to Swansea.
Well, a month ago we woke to the sound of screaming and radios blaring, encouraging everyone to find the highest place possible because there was, in fact, a Tsunami ripping its way towards us. For an hour after that, after all the shouts from the radio, everywhere went deathly quiet. There were no birds singing and the air was full of menace.
George and I rushed to the front bedroom and squeezed into George’s wardrobe. The noise and speed of the approaching wave could have come from a Hollywood movie. Travelling at 600 mph, the wave grew as it approached the shore of Swansea Bay. It then carried on and finally crashed somewhere near the Carmarthen Road. It repeated this 6 times. I was amazed by the strength of the long fingers of the waves dragging the debris of the city out to sea, Kraken-like.
George and I survived in a strange way. His wardrobe became wedged between the very solid school gates. We watched cars, buses, white vans doing cartwheels where there were once roads.
We now live on an island which looks straight out over the water onto what was Swansea Bay. All around us are bits of buildings that are familiar. Behind the school and down to Brynmill Lane, near the edge of the park, it is full of water. I worry about my friend Jo. The water is above the level of her house.
George and I are going to attempt to use Dave’s canoe today. Who knows what we will find? We have had no contact with the world outside of Swansea, no Met Office explanations nor help from the Welsh Assembly Government. George and I are cynical now. We just do not believe we will get any help from the authorities, but we will find like-minded people ….. We will watch for asteroids kicking the moon.
Wish us luck !
