2. The Young Disaster Series - Reclusive, Underrated Yet Overpowering, Overwhelming Ba'ha (Flood and Her Layers)

Do you see Ba'ha? The Layers of Soil: Top to Bottom: O Horizon (humus), A Horizon (Topsoil), E Horizon, (Eluviation Layer), B Horizon (Subsoil), C Horizon (Regolith), R Horizon (Bedrock). Archival micro pigment ink on 12"x9" Bristol Board.

Reclusive, Underrated Yet Overpowering, Overwhelming Ba'ha

Those of us who were born in flood plains and countries ravaged by floods know that Ba'ha is not to be underrated. Many lives have been lost because of man's folly. Ba'ha or Flood was once a rare occurrence. She was almost hermetic and isolated. She was reclusive. She preferred to stay in the confines between the Subsoil and Regolith layers. However, with the proliferation of mismanaged urbanization, deforestation and disrespect for the land, she emerged and not only did she surface, she stayed and lived with humans! She took on a human form.

This is what I wrote about Ba'ha in the Las Hijas de Señora Phenomena Naturale (The Daughters of Disaster):

Ba'ha' is the most human of all disasters. In fact she is almost human in the sense that she relies on humans for her appearance and sustenance.

She does not fly or hover; does not live underneath the earth. She stays on the surface, mostly waiting. She travels in human time. She has learned to wear shoes, to protect herself from the many protrusions concealed underwater like trash, garbage, grass clippings and metal scraps on river beds and tree stumps along the hills and mountain slopes.

She is often seen frolicking with her cousins the beautiful and refreshing Ulan (Rain) and the hyperactive and obsessive Monsoon.

She has human injuries. She has a jagged scar along her right face which she sustained when she stepped on her twin Lutak (Mudslide) and smashed her face on a crag.

Mostly she is a calm and peaceful river or scenic lake, a useful dam, a recreational pond or a simple drainage path. However, when she encounters human stupidity, avarice and shortsightedness, she makes an appearance and displays her wrath, sows misery, breeds diseases and strikes death blows; even after Ulan and Monsoon have departed.

Check out Ba'ha's sister, Lindol (Earthquake) here.

Mature Disasters:
Las Hijas de Señora Phenomena Naturale