My Storm Story: Reincarnated
Hanoi, Vietnam
2024, Junior, Creative Writing
It was August 8, 2022 and I had just returned from Vietnam when chaos surrounded me as I stood in the middle of the subway station. The flood had reached all the way into the subway station. Water rushing down the high flight of stairs; kids crying for their mom; screams of terror bouncing off of everything. I felt like I was in my very own horror movie. For a second I just stood there watching as waves of water gushed into the subway station swooshing around at my feet, tugging me with every wave. How could this be happening? Is this a dream? Am I really in Korea, an industrialized country, the land of k-pop and k-drama?
Amidst all the chaos I heard a thud from above and before I knew it the ceiling tile was falling on me along with the buckets of rain it was holding up. I could already feel the weight, the pressure, the suffocation and it hasn’t even touched me yet. Dread washed over me as I fell to the ground making a huge splash. I’m certainly going to die this time. Thousands of thoughts rushed through my head as I saw the tile drop and in an instant everything became black.
***
Two years ago …
“Bạn, ổn không? (Are you okay?)”, asked the paramedic in Vietnamese.
I felt groggy and every inch of my body ached as I slowly opened my eyes. I was strapped down to a stretcher in an ambulance. My head ringed as the paramedics chatted around me. What happened? I glanced around the ambulance for any sort of hint and found my friend Nguyen Thu still unconscious on another stretcher at the other side of the ambulance. Then everything started to come back to me. It was the evening of October 28, 2022 in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. We were at Thu’s grandparents’ house where Thu and I had come a week ago for our school break when we watched the news on the TV, “Typhoon Molave is quickly advancing to Quang Nam Province flooding the whole area.” That night we heard a loud snap and thud along with a low rumble outside the house.
We walked out through the back door to see what was causing all these noises. A few other people were out to see what it was as well. At first it seemed like nothing as we squinted in the dark to see, but then we started to make out the dirt and rocks tumbling down the mountain behind the house. Everyone yelled to get inside as they ran to their houses. In a few seconds tons of dirt was rushing down to us. Panic swept over me making my legs tremble as I tried to run. Beads of sweat started to form on my forehead even though the cool night air and the gushing rain chilled every part of my body. We ran into our house, shutting the door behind it, but it was of no use as the dirt and rocks destroyed anything in its way including our house. I tried to run; I tried to get out of here, but I could already feel the dirt covering my legs, pushing me to the ground. In a matter of seconds I was fully covered. It was like the earth was putting all its might just to crush me to death, pushing me from every direction. After what felt like an eternity I could hear a faint voice yelling. I wanted to scream that I was here, don’t leave me, but my lungs felt like it was burning. Then, I blacked out. I don’t know how many minutes or hours it has been until they found me. All I know is that I’m alive, I woke up, and I’m in an ambulance. It’s a miracle I survived, it’s like I reincarnated and given a second chance.
I’ve seen the news over the years I’ve lived in Vietnam and I know the weather has been getting more and more unpredictable and extreme. I saw how the typhoons went from just some harsh rain to destructive, dangerous, and daunting landslides and floods. I saw these tragedies sacrificing the lives of hundreds of people. I just never expected me to even come close to being one of those people. I guess that’s why I never really listened to those people saying climate change is a big issue or that we need to take action like planting more trees or using public transportation. Yes, I planted mangrove trees with the seeds my school gave me from the field trip to the salt marsh, but shouldn’t that be the bare minimum? I mean did I really do enough or was I just acting like I was making a difference?
I was drowning in thoughts that I didn’t even notice I was transferred into a hospital room. I glanced around to see the headline on the TV read “43 people killed in the landslide near town” and my mom, red eyed and covered in tears at the door.
“Baby, don’t worry. We’re going to move to Korea. We won’t make you stay here. It’s too dangerous to stay when it’s just going to get worse and worse.” Mom whispered through the sobs and she rushed toward me.
***
August 8, 2022
My head felt like it was exploding as I laid on the hospital bed. What were the chances I survived again? Third chance? I opened my eyes just long enough to see my mom crying.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you safe.” Mom cried over and over again.
We all thought coming to Korea meant an end to these wretched weathers, but I don’t know why I thought Korea would be any different from Vietnam. It’s the same Earth, right? Moving and trying to run away from the problem isn’t going to work. It’s like wherever I go these tragedies will follow me. The only way to escape this is for us to take action.
Works Cited
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2022/08/record-breaking-rainfall-causes-severe-flooding-in-seoul
https://vtcnews.vn/nam-2020-sat-lo-don-dap-mien-trung-tang-thuong-ar586863.html
Reflection
Reflection
Typhoon Molave happened in Quang Nam in October 2020 when I was living in Vietnam. However because it didn’t affect the city I lived in I had still thought of it as not my problem and I never really imagined climate change would affect me. This all changed during the summer break of 2022 in August when I went to visit Korea from Vietnam. The worst flood in 100 years had hit Seoul and I was there, so when I saw the theme “Tell your own climate story” I thought of this experience right away. From writing this I was able to learn that climate change can be seen in various ways as before I didn't know that the typhoons were getting worse as a result of climate change, but now I do. It also shocked me that I had this moment in Korea instead of Vietnam. It showed me that climate change isn’t better or worse depending on whether it's a developed or developing country. It affects everyone. The story I wrote is fiction, but a lot of the emotional details were out of my experience of the terrible typhoons and floods. I wrote this story because I want people to be aware of the damage that climate change has in our community. It’s easy to dismiss it when you feel like you're not directly affected so I hope my story can help those who haven’t experienced these horrible disasters be inspired and motivated to take action so we see these tragedies less in the future.