I have never really been a fan of the rainy season. Not like it doesn't have good sides to it—like the cool night breeze it brings, or canceling my classes in the morning, or that sweet extra sleep that comes in the morning when you wake up and it starts raining with no sign of the sun.
But the downsides to me just feel much bigger. The very one thing I don't like about the rainy season is being wet, whether it's wet clothes from the rain or wet grass. I just don't like it. Ugh, and washing clothes in the rainy season is so stressful. Especially when you wash the clothes before it starts raining.
Another thing is that whenever I am without an umbrella I feel trapped by the rain. Normally, I am someone who doesn't go outdoors that much, but the rain just makes it feel like I am being held in a place against my will sometimes.
So, to me, these were all the problems I had with the rainy season until a few years ago when I experienced real climate change.
At first it was like normal rainfall, started intense and felt like it was going to beat in the roof but then it later subsided but it didn't stop, it was like the skies and refused to close, two days straight and the only breaks we got from the heavy downpour were short periods of light rainfall.
At first, it was fun, the cool breeze, the weather, and the mood, a perfect setting for hibernation. The third day was Sunday, and we remained indoors, wrapped in blankets most of the time.
But soon the puddles we watched formed became pools, and the gutters and drains overflowed. The water sought to occupy every space it could, creeping into homes, including ours.
I can remember our sitting room, which had the deepest floor, was the first to get filled. We had to move the furniture and everything in the parlour to the dining room. At first, we tried packing the water with buckets and pouring it into the toilet. But the more we scooped, the more the water flowed in, so we gave up at some point. It was actually a good thing that particular house was built with the sitting room having a deep floor while the other rooms were raised.
But ours wasn't so bad, because on the street we were actually on the higher side. The compound opposite us, which was the lowest one,, haditsr houses filled up with water all the way to the windows. Luckily most of them moved out with their belongings before it reached the point of being like a river.
My friend Chidera wasn't so lucky, though; she stayed alone with her brother while her parents were in Lagos. When it all started they were confused and had nobody to pack all their belongings to stay with. They could only take a few things, like their clothes, while the rest of their things floated in the water.
There was a mud house that stood strong for years and some people said they were present and watched it melt to nothing. A family of parents and two sons used to stay there. And many other people suffered worse.
After that, I became very cautious about climate change. The way the seasons come late or too early and sometimes too strong, sometimes it feels like there is no balance anymore.
Climate change can be just as terrible as it is portrayed. I have lived through it and can never forget it.
