“Black Wednesday” was an unforgettable day not only for people caught up in the floods, but also for many prisoners who felt especially powerless and guilt-ridden because they could do nothing to help their families. Abdullah Mohammed, an inmate at the Breman prison, said he almost went mad when he heard about the floods and could not contact his elderly mother and his two sisters. “My mother and two sisters live in Quwaizah, exactly where the flood passed through and destroyed everything,” said Mohammed, who is serving a sentence for a drug-related offense. “I did not know what to do when I did not hear anything from them. I was listening to the news and heard that many people had died.” He said the two days he heard nothing from his loved ones, were the longest days of his life. “All connection between me and my family was cut because our house was covered with water. There was also no mobile phone I could call them on. My fellow inmates did their best to help me by calling all the people they knew to ask about my family,” said Mohammed. “Two days later I got a call from my mother telling me that they lost everything and were living in a furnished apartment. That was the day I felt alive again,” he said. Jameel Mousa, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. He went into a fit of rage and guilt when he heard about the death of his sister and two of her children. “I am the older brother and the one who should have taken care of my sister after the death of her husband, but I could not do that because I am in prison,” said Mousa. Mousa said it had been two years since he last had contact with his sister, and now he will never see her again. “Her other children, aged five and eight, were saved and now live with family members. Being away from them at this time is what is really killing me, especially now that they have no one to care for them,” said Mousa.
