The report below from Lek is circulating online. It has been translated using online tools, so may be imperfect (and we have not verified places and elephant names) but it captures the horror of the situation:

“It was a day of darkness, a day of great disaster for us. The images I saw when I was able to enter the area by rescue boat haunt my mind and cannot be forgotten. We received warnings that the water would flood, so we moved the elephants from the lowlands to higher ground. But who could have imagined that even the higher ground would not be safe, as the floodwaters reached the mountain and submerged almost the entire village of Kued Chang. Our animals in that area were left floating in the water. Normally, at night, the elephants are not chained, but they sleep in barns with fences. However, the water rose three meters high, going over the fence, almost submerging the roofs of some barns. The powerful currents swept away our blind elephant, Mae Ploy Thong, Mae Mi Boon, and many other elephants from their enclosures, disappearing right before our eyes.

“The water was so high and strong that it was impossible to control the situation. Even now, we are still searching for the families of workers, elephant caretakers, livestock handlers, and many young children living in the highlands near the village of Kued Chang. Many of them, we still do not know their fate, as there is no signal or contact, and they are in areas that have never flooded before. An elderly elephant, who is in the clinic, is so weak that she is receiving IV fluids and can barely walk. It is extremely difficult to move each old or sick elephant. The staff are working tirelessly, braving the three-foot-high floodwaters, to help the elephants without any equipment or boats, but we are all trying. Everyone is working hard to rescue the elephants that were trapped by the force of the water, and we had to cut through metal barriers. The elephant barn doors couldn’t be opened because they were covered with mud. In some enclosures, the elephants helped break down the fences to get out. As of now, there are still many missing elephants, along with many missing cows and buffaloes. All the dogs and cats are safe, as we moved them to higher ground, but we don’t have cages for them yet.

“I would like to thank all the volunteers, rescue units, government agencies, and the many elephant camps in the area that sent people and mahouts to help us control the panicked elephants and get them out of the water. I am currently in the flooded area with the animal rescue team, so I do not know exactly which units have sent people to help, but from what I have heard from staff coordinators, many organizations have contributed, and I will provide details to thank everyone later.”

At ADI, we are sending our love and standing with Lek and Elephant Nature Park at this heart-breaking and frightening time. We all share how we invest our hearts, life and time for the animals we rescue and for us, it is our lions, tigers, bears, monkeys and others at the ADIWS and our sanctuaries in Peru. We can only imagine how we would feel. We have suspended fundraising posts scheduled for ADIWS this weekend because we know many of our supporters will want to help this desperate situation. If you would like to help, we have posted the appeal link above and you can follow Elephant Nature Park for more information. Please do not bombard them with questions, they have ONLY ONE IMPORTANT TASK – saving the animals.