AUC Caravan

by Farah Mansour:

Standing knee-deep in a pool of water in the lobby of his Sharm El Sheikh hotel, Bassel El Toukhy, a graduate of The American University in Cairo, found himself trapped in the middle of a natural disaster.

“The room was flooded at the hotel and the damage happening was beyond anyone’s control,” El Toukhy said.

Witnesses of the destruction caused by the flash floods, on and after Jan. 18, admit, “it was one of the most frightening experiences of [their] lives.”

The heavy rainfall mainly affected the Sinai peninsula, Hurghada, and Aswan, causing 15 deaths, destroying hundreds of houses, and stranding many families. The material losses are estimated to be over $25 million. Survivors blamed the damage on the local authorities, describing their emergency responses as ineffective and slow.

“Water had quickly swept into ground floors. Nothing could have prevented it from getting through. Electricity got cut throughout the whole city and communication with the outside world was impossible,” said Inoor Zeitoun, an AUC student.

Following the three days of the crisis, the Egyptian army had carried out rescue work, and only small amounts of aid were distributed from neighboring areas. Hundreds of families were forced to spend the night in the open air for an entire week, until more aid was sent.

Alexander Wright, an egyptology senior at AUC who had set out to Sinai with a friend almost two days after the storms happened, was forced to spend the night in his car in the town of Nekhil in Sinai waiting for the removal of the road blocks.

“The roads were horrible, there were small lakes and rivers everywhere and rocks all over the place,” Wright said.“It was freezing cold and we had to wait in the car, they wouldn’t let us through the roads at night.”

Conditions were even worse for those present when disaster struck.

“There were pieces of the two-way road and almost half the road had just fallen off in bits,” Wright added.

For days on end people lay awake; not just be- cause of the harsh conditions that prevented them from sleeping, but because of their fear of the next wave of floods.

As an effort of aid, the AUC Student Union organized a campaign to collect donations for the flood victims. A facebook group spread the word as invitations were sent to members of the SU who are trying to reach to as many people as possible.

The SU has also relied on spreading the news through word of mouth, BlackBerry messenger broadcasts and text messages.

The British University in Egypt SU has also joined AUC‘s SU campaign in an effort to encourage students’ cooperation. Donation boxes are available on campus but the SU plans to create a bank account for money transfers.

SU president, Omar Kandil said all kinds of do- nations would make a great difference. However,he believes “the campaign is very slow” due to lack of media emphasis. He remains optimistic nonetheless.

Many survivors also complained of the slow response, blaming the government, as aid convoys took a full week to arrive. Others held the government directly responsible for initially allowing the construction of buildings on the riverbed, which put them in danger of flooding.

A report produced by the Crisis Management Center in north Sinai in cooperation with the Cabinet’s information and Decision Support Centre stated that floods ruined 59 kilometers of roads, killed 1,838 animals and destroyed 27,820 trees.

Upon his visit to Aswan, President Hosni Mubarak promised compensation to the victims of the flood. However, Sinai victims claim that they have been neglected. For the survivors whose homes have been destroyed, the government promised a compensation of 25,000 EGP, while ownersof partially damaged homes are to receive 15,000 EGP.

Most victims have been relying on the donations received from non-governmental organiza- tions, political parties and individual citizens.

“I really hope everything goes back to normal,” Zeitoun said.

The Public Committee to Support Flood Victims sent an aid convoy on Jan. 24 to the town of Aboul Rish in Aswan, one of the most damaged areas along with Al-Arish. The convoy followed a protest by some Sinai citizens on Jan. 20 over the delay in delivery of aid.

El Touky and Zeitoun left Sharm El Sheikh 24 hours later, as soon as Sharm El Sheikh International Airport reopened.

“We were isolated from the outside world since all communication methods had failed,” El Toukhy said. “It took us a whole day to reach our families and let them know we were alright. After staying almost a week in Sinai.”

Wright also made his way back to Cairo on a still damaged road.

“On our way back things were still pretty bad,” Wright said. “There was still a lot of water but it was a bit cleaner.”

Zeitoun said watching the ruins of the city, the day after the floods had hit, caused her to break down into tears.