Deluge, flash floods and mudslides: South Goa

goandude · 5th October 2009, 16:44

Hi, Had this experience I thought would like to share since there are some take home points.
Wife and self needed to go to Karwar on 2 Oct for a two day work trip. The VDI had 4740 km on the odo and wanted to finish the 5000 km 2nd service. as i intend to travel to mumbai or bangy and didnt want to have to do the service outside goa.

It was raining when we started at 10 but no big deal, in goa it rains. So this is how it looked when we were 50 km into the trip.
The terrain is hilly all along the HN17 and at one point we were confronted with a patch of 30 meters of road submerged in fast flowing water. I waited and another swift crossed in front of me so with a prayer on my lips I crossed 1st gear 1600 rpm. it was scary with water splashing on the front of the bonnet. but got across. thereafter all was well.
5 km later stopped by the police and told road to karwar blocked due to mud slide.

went back to a place on nh17 where we couild park the car stretch our legs and wait. time now 1200. It was raining non stop. found a shed in front a doctors dispensary, this had his esteem parked in it with adequate space for my car too. so parked and made small talk about the weather. Now this shed was close to a river and we could see the river rising. also noticed that the traffic on NH 17 had completely stopped.

The doctor at the dispensary was a kind man who invited me over to his house a kilometer away for shelter and food. In this kilometer a part of the road that was ok a little while ago was submerged too. His esteem stalled in the water and i who was following him had to move around him so that i did not stop. 2nd scary moment. his house was on the side of the nh and both wife and self glued our eyes to the highway for any sign of traffic. At about 1630 sow some car movement and then decided to move to karwar.

The road to karwar thereafter was OK flood water at the side of the road, with a mud slide just before the Kali bridge where the road is cut thru high rock. now with the sea to our right and flood water in karwar the pwd decided to cut the road so that the water could drain out.

Waiting here a guy comes up to me and says "your silver Dzire?" Me "yes" He "Hi i'm suv from team bhp and I saw the sticker on your car"
What a comfort as time was 1730, my first visit to karwar town and becoming dark fast. Suv was with wife and another couple headed for bangy but could not go furthur as South of karwar was a big landslide. So he had to stay in karwar for the night. He was very helpful in finding us a room and dropped us there after finding another way into karwar town.

To cut along story short, Karwar was totally cut off from the outside world for 24 hours. finally found out that I would of been one of the last few to cross the flooded stretch of road before the road was washed away. Road repaired by afternoon of 3rd and we headed back to goa.

Moral of the story: seeing the swiftly flowing stream I should of turned back. In this particular case as (a) home was 50 km away. (b) I didnt know the condition of the road after this whcih could have been broken and reaching karwar would be impossible (c) Journey to karwar was not critical.
In other circumstances may of needed to press on.
Some pics.

The gratitude to that unknown doctor who helped us out, and suv for a big moral boost

pranava999 · 6th October 2009, 01:01

Very fortunate to get away safe. This is the second thread I am reading on bhpian managing to get away from the flood. Unless one witnesses/experiences such instances first hand, its hard to fully understand the enormity and gravity of the situation.

rallystar · 6th October 2009, 09:31

The floods this time have been really terrible.I saw a similar situation when i was coming back to goa from maharashtra via amboli ghat.After coming down from the ghat we saw devastation all round.People have lost their houses as well as crops.There were broken poles and trees all over the place.At 2 or 3 places we saw vehicles washed away by the water into the roadsde fields.The worst was a few people alos lost their lives.....

mobike008 · 7th October 2009, 13:54

@Goandude, that was a lucky escape, even i was in the area during that time but luckily inside goa and not travelling during the troubled times.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rallystar

The floods this time have been really terrible.I saw a similar situation when i was coming back to goa from maharashtra via amboli ghat.After coming down from the ghat we saw devastation all round.People have lost their houses as well as crops.There were broken poles and trees all over the place.At 2 or 3 places we saw vehicles washed away by the water into the roadsde fields.The worst was a few people alos lost their lives.....

I crossed Amboli both times during my recent visit to Goa ( Oct 1st and Oct 4th) and never saw what you described except for the mind blowing mist and continous drizzle in Amboli Ghat.

SUV · 7th October 2009, 16:38

@goandude, was great to meet you and a relief as well ...

I really pity the plight of the local's, disaster management was a BIG ZERO.

What i didn’t like was the Police / Guy's manning the check post providing false information to us through out. They just made us waste our time in the process.

I managed to leave Karwar (Road condition's after karwar towards hubli were pretty drivable. ) close to 2 PM and was back home (blr) close to midnight...

goandude · 7th October 2009, 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008

@Goandude, that was a lucky escape, even i was in the area during that time but luckily inside goa and not travelling during the troubled times.
I crossed Amboli both times during my recent visit to Goa ( Oct 1st and Oct 4th) and never saw what you described except for the mind blowing mist and continous drizzle in Amboli Ghat.

Thanks. I sure was an eye opener. but the team bhp sticker really came in useful.

Agree with your 2nd point. the rains and assiciated damage wasn't reported heavy in north Goa

mobike008 · 7th October 2009, 18:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by goandude

Thanks. I sure was an eye opener. but the team bhp sticker really came in useful.

Agree with your 2nd point. the rains and assiciated damage wasn't reported heavy in north Goa

You bet, the stickers are getting popular these days. I was wearing the tbhp tshirt and was approached by another tbhpian from Mumbai ( parimal) seeing the same.

We exchaged pleasantries for a few minutes, feels nice to meet someone from same online community.

vnabhi · 7th October 2009, 19:30

You sure were lucky, goandude. Even I travelled via Karwar on Sep 28th and returned via Amboli on Sep 30th, but things were normal on both routes.

By the way, i saw a silver-coloured dzire with a TN registered number opposite Bom Bascillica that had a Team-BHP sticker. Was it yours?

Nitin · 7th October 2009, 23:57

Scary to be in such a situation,where Mother nature's fury knows no bounds!
Good to see a fellow BHPian jump in and do the needful. Kudos to SUV!

khoj · 8th October 2009, 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008

You bet, the stickers are getting popular these days. I was wearing the tbhp tshirt and was approached by another tbhpian from Mumbai ( parimal) seeing the same.

We exchaged pleasantries for a few minutes, feels nice to meet someone from same online community.

Sorry guys but I just could not stop myself from asking as to where does one get the tbhp tshirts?

goandude · 8th October 2009, 09:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by vnabhi

You sure were lucky, goandude. Even I travelled via Karwar on Sep 28th and returned via Amboli on Sep 30th, but things were normal on both routes. Things became nasty only on 2 Oct afternoon.

By the way, i saw a silver-coloured dzire with a TN registered number opposite Bom Bascillica that had a Team-BHP sticker. Was it yours? No Mine is HR

comments in Bold. My sticker is a DIY

5th October 2009, 16:44	#1
goandude Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Mysuru Posts: 1,766 Thanked: 1,289 Times	Deluge, flash floods and mudslides: South Goa Hi, Had this experience I thought would like to share since there are some take home points. Wife and self needed to go to Karwar on 2 Oct for a two day work trip. The VDI had 4740 km on the odo and wanted to finish the 5000 km 2nd service. as i intend to travel to mumbai or bangy and didnt want to have to do the service outside goa. It was raining when we started at 10 but no big deal, in goa it rains. So this is how it looked when we were 50 km into the trip. The terrain is hilly all along the HN17 and at one point we were confronted with a patch of 30 meters of road submerged in fast flowing water. I waited and another swift crossed in front of me so with a prayer on my lips I crossed 1st gear 1600 rpm. it was scary with water splashing on the front of the bonnet. but got across. thereafter all was well. 5 km later stopped by the police and told road to karwar blocked due to mud slide. went back to a place on nh17 where we couild park the car stretch our legs and wait. time now 1200. It was raining non stop. found a shed in front a doctors dispensary, this had his esteem parked in it with adequate space for my car too. so parked and made small talk about the weather. Now this shed was close to a river and we could see the river rising. also noticed that the traffic on NH 17 had completely stopped. The doctor at the dispensary was a kind man who invited me over to his house a kilometer away for shelter and food. In this kilometer a part of the road that was ok a little while ago was submerged too. His esteem stalled in the water and i who was following him had to move around him so that i did not stop. 2nd scary moment. his house was on the side of the nh and both wife and self glued our eyes to the highway for any sign of traffic. At about 1630 sow some car movement and then decided to move to karwar. The road to karwar thereafter was OK flood water at the side of the road, with a mud slide just before the Kali bridge where the road is cut thru high rock. now with the sea to our right and flood water in karwar the pwd decided to cut the road so that the water could drain out. Waiting here a guy comes up to me and says "your silver Dzire?" Me "yes" He "Hi i'm suv from team bhp and I saw the sticker on your car" What a comfort as time was 1730, my first visit to karwar town and becoming dark fast. Suv was with wife and another couple headed for bangy but could not go furthur as South of karwar was a big landslide. So he had to stay in karwar for the night. He was very helpful in finding us a room and dropped us there after finding another way into karwar town. To cut along story short, Karwar was totally cut off from the outside world for 24 hours. finally found out that I would of been one of the last few to cross the flooded stretch of road before the road was washed away. Road repaired by afternoon of 3rd and we headed back to goa. Moral of the story: seeing the swiftly flowing stream I should of turned back. In this particular case as (a) home was 50 km away. (b) I didnt know the condition of the road after this whcih could have been broken and reaching karwar would be impossible (c) Journey to karwar was not critical. In other circumstances may of needed to press on. Some pics. The gratitude to that unknown doctor who helped us out, and suv for a big moral boost Attached Thumbnails Attached Images
	() Thanks

6th October 2009, 01:01	#2
pranava999 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: BANGALORE Posts: 845 Thanked: 23 Times View My Garage	Very fortunate to get away safe. This is the second thread I am reading on bhpian managing to get away from the flood. Unless one witnesses/experiences such instances first hand, its hard to fully understand the enormity and gravity of the situation.
	() Thanks

6th October 2009, 09:31	#3
rallystar BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: goa Posts: 145 Thanked: 19 Times	The floods this time have been really terrible.I saw a similar situation when i was coming back to goa from maharashtra via amboli ghat.After coming down from the ghat we saw devastation all round.People have lost their houses as well as crops.There were broken poles and trees all over the place.At 2 or 3 places we saw vehicles washed away by the water into the roadsde fields.The worst was a few people alos lost their lives.....
	() Thanks

7th October 2009, 16:38	#5
SUV BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: BLR Posts: 256 Thanked: 3 Times	@goandude, was great to meet you and a relief as well ... I really pity the plight of the local's, disaster management was a BIG ZERO. What i didn’t like was the Police / Guy's manning the check post providing false information to us through out. They just made us waste our time in the process. I managed to leave Karwar (Road condition's after karwar towards hubli were pretty drivable. ) close to 2 PM and was back home (blr) close to midnight...
	() Thanks

7th October 2009, 19:30	#8
vnabhi Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: DC -> DC Posts: 5,965 Thanked: 2,398 Times View My Garage	You sure were lucky, goandude. Even I travelled via Karwar on Sep 28th and returned via Amboli on Sep 30th, but things were normal on both routes. By the way, i saw a silver-coloured dzire with a TN registered number opposite Bom Bascillica that had a Team-BHP sticker. Was it yours?
	() Thanks

7th October 2009, 23:57	#9
Nitin Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 3,294 Thanked: 20 Times View My Garage	Scary to be in such a situation,where Mother nature's fury knows no bounds! Good to see a fellow BHPian jump in and do the needful. Kudos to SUV!
	() Thanks