Since moving to Colombia, I realized that I took some things about my comfortable life in the U.S. for granted. One of the main things I now appreciate are storm drains and sewers. In Barranquilla, there were no storm drains or sewers in the city until very recently, and there still are not very many of them. Because of this, the streets flood easily and these floods become dangerous quite quickly.
Because Barranquilla is built on a slight hill, the rainfall accumulates fast and turns into rushing rivers in the streets. After only a few minutes of rain, the streets are already turning into streams. My shoes easily get wet because the water can go up past people´s ankles.
Even though it can be dangerous, the rain is very important here. Barranquilla is a hot climate and it´s good for everyone when it rains, especially during the rainy season when everyone is counting on lots of rain to fill up the fresh water supply. The only downside of rain is the flooding in the streets.
