Day 136 - Flood Story

Flood Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

The city had been built below sea level. It was not an immediate concern and the benefits of being near the water far outweighed the dangers. The city grew and the city thrived. There was trade and commerce and banking and industry. There were research labs and a military and naval outpost. It wasn’t a large city, but it seemed like an important one.

Then things changed. The city grew stagnant and the population shrank ever so slightly. Business came and business went. Times were tough everywhere and it was no different here.

Suddenly the environment grew hostile as well. The oceans rose again and again and low-lying coastlines faced flooding. Unprecedented rains continued throughout a particularly wet fall and winter seasons. A dam that had been in a state of disrepair for many years began to stress and crack. The water rose and rose until the banks of the rivers flooded and then all of a sudden there was an unexpected levee breach. The citizens were able to watch the floodplain fill. There was no way to fight it. There was barely time to try and escape it.

The city had been lost. Port West was no more.

The government response was slow and ineffective. They made little effort to repair or replace the levees. They did nothing to pump the water out. They kept the people out though. Former residents were not allowed to make any attempt to salvage their homes or recover their possessions. Understandably, the city was underwater, but still, a great many people believed reclamation work could be done. They were not given the chance.

Armed guards came into the surrounding areas. It was said they would protect against looters, but they kept everyone out. A tourist town formed on the outskirts of what used to be Port West. The government shut that down quickly, claiming the entire region was still dangerous and susceptible to further natural disasters. Studies were done to determine the environmental damages, and it was deemed the area was unsafe, but few details were provided. Businesses provided studies examining the cost of redevelopment. The recovery was not considered economically viable.

The area became a dead zone.

Years went by and the waters were slow to recede. Finally a prolonged drought helped speed the process. The water levels decreased, the flood waters receded, and Port West slowly returned. Day after day the tops of buildings appeared. Over the course of a year, the flood eventually became a city, or the remains of a city, to be more accurate. Port West would be submerged no longer, but the new Port West that grew from the water would not bring about a rebirth as with the phoenix, but as ruins. A lost stillborn city, a painful reminder of what had been and what could have been still. Everything had been below water level. Everything was ruined. It was a wasteland, derelict and rusted through. What had been a bustling city was just rot and ruin. Homes were gone. Buildings were toppled. It was as if a mighty earthquake or massive bomb had leveled the city. Port West was a tomb.

The former citizens hoped that now the city would be rebuilt at last. Businesses prepared to profit from its salvaging and recycling. The people hoped that something new and beautiful would appear to wipe this tragedy from their collective memories. But no government effort was made and no private contractors were allowed in. Scavengers came, but the security forces had orders to shoot on sight. Homeowners petitioned to be allowed to return. Their words fell on deaf ears.

Port West had remained underwater for nearly a decade. In that time the government did make one clandestine salvage effort, early on after the floods first happened. It was a highly classified mission, and still denied to this day. There were two important things in Port West that were not public knowledge. One was a science lab near the army base that researched neurotoxins and the other were gold reserves in the banking district. Details on the success or failure of these efforts are unknown. The remainder of the city was allowed to be swept out to sea, lost but not forgotten.