An Adventist boarding school in northeast India has been devastated by a flash flood that killed one teacher and forced it to close its doors to 900 elementary and high school students for at least a month or two.
Floodwaters swamped Riverside Adventist Academy in the Indian state of Meghalay after torrential rain unexpectedly caused the banks of the nearby Didram River to overflow.
“The damage was so great that it is hard to estimate the loss,” said Lionel F. Lyngdoh, president of the church’s Northeast India Union, which operates the school.
“The kitchen, dining hall and all the ground-floor buildings were submerged under about seven feet of floodwater,” he said by e-mail after visiting the site. “The flood current was so strong that all cooking utensils, foodstuffs, benches, and chairs from the dining hall were carried away. Even the iron gate was thrown outside.”
He said the greatest loss, however, was Rituraj Phukan, 27, an Indian national who had taught at the school since 2008.
Students and staff, reeling in shock over the flood and the death, described Phukan as a hero who had rescued scores of students before being washed away in the surging waters.
“The school is in total shock,” said Koberson Langhu, an Indian national studying in the Philippines who has been in close contact with people from the academy. “The students are in shock. Everyone is in shock. They cannot even fathom what has happened to them.”
Many people lost all their possessions, and some even resigned themselves to certain death.
Flooding is an annual occurrence during monsoon season in northeast India, which sees some of the heaviest rainfall in the world. But flash floods of the type witnessed last week are rare.
“At present, the students have been sent home. It may take one or two months to start again,” said T. P. Kurian, Communication director for the church’s Southern Asia Division, which oversees the Northeast India Union.
Kurian said at least 10 people not affiliated with the school also died in the flooding.
Riverside Adventist Academy opened in 2007 with the goal of offering affordable education to local residents. The Northeast India Union also designated it as an institution to provide free education to Adventist orphans and poor students.
It remains unclear how much it will cost to reopen the school. Lyngdoh, the union president, said he was assessing the costs.
School Caught Unaware
Academy staff raised the alarm at about 4 a.m. on September 22 when water from the Didram River, located about a five-minute walk from the campus, swept over the property line, said Langhu, whose wife’s uncle works as the academy’s finance manager. Immediately, the staff began to wake up the 430 students who live on campus and to evacuate them to the top floor of the school buildings.
“The people had not expected such a flood, and it caught them unaware,” Langhu said. “Only when it entered the campus did people realize what was happening, and by that time it was too late to save their property and even personal belongings, only their lives.”
Among those who took the lead in evacuating the frightened children from the fast-rising water was Phukan, a science teacher and boys’ dorm supervisor.
“But by the time he was ready to save himself, the water currents had become much stronger,” Langhu said. “The wood that he was clinging to broke and got swept away. Nobody was in a position to save him without endangering themselves. His body was found the next day in a paddy field far away from the academy.”
Phukan was buried after a funeral at Northeast Adventist College in northeast India. He is survived by his wife, Rosaline.
Families Said Last Prayers
Langhu said many families gave up hope of being rescued as they saw the floodwaters rapidly rise.
“One of the family members I spoke to told me that he gathered his family around in a circle, offered a prayer, and they gave each other a final hug,” he said. “With tears in their eyes, they waited for their death. By God's grace, the Indian military arrived to rescue the residents.”
He said the rescue operation started after the waters had already begun to recede. As is the nature of a flash flood, the waters rose and receded quickly.
Video footage shot shortly after the flash flood and provided by the Southern Asia Division shows academy buildings half-submerged in brownish water and several people standing on a roof. Rain is falling steadily.
The school’s buildings, built by Maranatha Volunteers International, an Adventist organization, remain standing, but little was left of value on the ground floors. Many staff members lost all their belongings, including Langhu’s relative.
School has been suspended amid a cleanup effort by its male staff. Everyone else has been sent home or provided with alternative housing.
U.S. Teacher Leaves
One of the teachers, U.S. citizen Greg Khng, was making plans to return to the United States. Khng had just joined the faculty as a computer science and math teacher when the floodwaters canceled his first day of classes.
“It’s not technically safe for me as I'm not used to their water and bottled water is hard to find,” he told Spectrum Magazine.
But before he could leave, Khng was working to replace his passport, which was lost in the flooding.
He said, however, that something was more important than the piece of paper: the lives of the people who had lost everything.
“While this to me was a bad out-of-country experience, this is a complete disaster for them,” he said. “Many lost all their belongings, many lost their homes, and I can only imagine how many lost their lives. I urge people to do what they can to help.”
Contributions to Riverside Adventist Academy can be sent by check to the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904. Mark in the memo line, “Adventist Child India for the ‘Mack Trust Fund.’” Credit card donations can be made by calling +1 (301) 680-6228.