Some said: Ramzi died, swept away by the floods and perished. Others insist on saying: Ramzi was killed in a state that is negligent and lacks the most basic safety standards, where the holes are deep, the darkness is profound, and the drainage systems are clogged with dirt. Even complaining has become futile, so the “one enduring in hell” can only say: "Be careful, people, not to join the ranks of the state's victims – the farm!"
On Sunday morning, the twenty-third of October, Ramzi Makhouli, the eighty-year-old man who was swept away by the floods in Zouq Mosbeh, did not know that his end was imminent. He visited his eldest son Emil and enjoyed his favorite dish: grilled kebabs. He looked repeatedly towards the adjacent valley, asked for chocolate, and when his son Robert arrived to take him home, he looked into Emil and Robert's eyes and said to them: "Stay gathered, my sons." These were his last moments before the waters consumed him.
Sunday was sunny, and the people, burdened by crises, set out on an outing. Ramzi Makhouli and his wife Lulu lived in the houses of their two sons, Robert and Emil. This arrangement was agreed upon by the six siblings: Emil, Robert, Nabil, Huda, En'am, and Amal when they decided to move Ramzi and Lulu from their village, Dhahr al-Laysinah in Akkar, to live among their children in Zouq Mosbeh. For those who don't know, Laysinah is located near Bino.
Like three-quarters of the children of Akkar, Ramzi joined the Lebanese army and retired over twenty years ago. His health, contrary to the rumors circulating in the past two days, was “excellent,” except for the onset of Parkinson's disease. He was not bedridden. On Sunday, he climbed four floors on foot and descended four floors, pausing at each floor where pictures of saints adorned the walls. He prayed and made the sign of the cross repeatedly. He was very happy when he leaned on a chair next to his wife Lulu. Before leaving Emil’s house, located on the hill of Al-Kouz in Zouq Mosbeh, he kissed his wife's cheek and promised her he would return. Emil and his wife encouraged him to stay, but he kept looking at the clock and telling Robert, who had just arrived: "Let’s go before it gets dark." Robert and his wife yielded to Ramzi’s insistence and left with him. They had no children with them (as rumored) since Robert was a newlywed and had no kids.
The floods were stronger; the sky had not yet begun to pour its blessings. Just seconds later, the earth overflowed. Valleys, winding roads, deep holes, and complete darkness. Robert parked his small red JAC car aside and wiped the windows. As soon as he returned and got back into the car, just a few meters away from his brother's house, he could see nothing, as the rain turned into torrents, sweeping the car and throwing it into a swamp on the right side of the road opposite the tile factory, and began pushing the car toward the valley.
Robert exited through the window. His wife jumped out. He rushed to help his father sitting in the back seat. He enveloped him in his arms and tried to swim with him, but Ramzi cried out: "My foot is stuck, my foot is stuck..." And the floods were stronger than all of them, sweeping Ramzi Makhouli away.
The car remained in its spot. It was lifted from the ditch where it had fallen but was parked beside the road. Its windshield was shattered completely, and its condition was dire. A rosary still hung on the rearview mirror. The scent of wet earth permeated everywhere. It was the smell of early winter. We looked at the sky. The sun today, on Monday afternoon, is shining. We recite “Our Father” and the “Peace” for the soul of Ramzi, Grandpa Ramzi, as everyone calls him. We hear a woman repeating: “Save us, Lord, from death - fire or drowning or trouble on the road.” What a death it was, and what a fate for Ramzi Makhouli.
The Civil Defense on the Ground
Fifteen hours passed, and Ramzi was missing. A Civil Defense official tried to explain his perception of the journey amid the lashes of the floods: “That night, all the young men from the Civil Defense were on the roads, helping those stranded everywhere, between Dbaye and Zouq and Jounieh. They were all out battling the floods along the highway. Nine vehicles were deployed. When they received the call about a missing person, they hurried to the location along with the Red Cross and rescue teams from the Lebanese Army. The place where Ramzi was lost is called ‘Zouqain‘ because it is located between Zouq Mikael and Zouq Mosbeh. There is no river there, but the abundant falling water and the torrents opened a river toward the valley, which is no more than ten meters deep, but the speed and abundance of the water swept everything in it far away. The Civil Defense personnel did not leave the ground, and all teams continued to search for the missing throughout the night, where there was no glimmer of light, even the moonlight. We followed the watercourse where there were many brambles and trees.”
Looking around, we see much sycamore, oak, and pine trees. We were haunted by images of the aged face of Ramzi being battered by the water from side to side. All the factors that night combined to affirm the “inevitability” that Ramzi Makhouli had drowned. The search continued like looking for a needle in a haystack. Teams from the Civil Defense descended to the bottom of the valley, while other teams searched on the upper side. The teams alternated and continued their search. By about nine-thirty on Monday morning, they received a voice recording saying: “We found the missing man.” They found him five hundred meters away from the spot of the car. The rains had carried him far away.
At the home of Ramzi’s son Emil, the late man's daughters sit. As for his wife Lulu, the elderly woman, she did not know what happened to her husband. They did not tell her because she would not be able to bear such news. We see her looking at us in astonishment as though trying to grasp signals from what is happening around her. Photography is prohibited. No images of the deceased are allowed to be published. This is the family’s instruction. Today, Ramzi Makhouli, the retired Lebanese army officer, will be buried in his hometown in Akkar. The Lebanese army is taking care of all the arrangements, and his children are handling all the details. Much was said among those who witnessed his retrieval regarding the magnitude of the tragedy: he was very disfigured, his head was crushed, and his legs and feet as well. He was in the “hand of God” exposed. The floods were very harsh on him, and all hope is that he died instantly.
