(Minghui.org) When Hurricane Ida flooded New York City in September 2021, I was living in the basement of a house near Kissena Park.
On September 1, 2021, it was pouring in New York City. I had dinner with some friends and went home, tired. After I got ready for bed and was going to sleep, I heard my landlord yelling, “Get up, quick!” I immediately got up and got dressed. I asked the landlord what was wrong, and he told me water was coming into the house. I saw water on my bathroom floor. I tried to figure out where the water was coming from and found more water flowing into my room through the back door.
I began to worry because I had so many books and paintings, most of which were on the floor. I immediately picked up some books and put them on the sofa and table. More and more water came in, so I tried scooping the water out with a basin. I noticed the sewer drain in front of the house was full. I never thought there could be so much water in such a short time.
Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. I turned around and saw water as high as my ceiling crashing into my room through the backdoor like a beast. It was so sudden and strong that it closed my front door. In an instant, water flooded my entire room. It took about three seconds. One second later the water had risen to my thighs. Within another second it had risen to my shoulders. Just as my head was about to go under, I broke the glass on the front door, and the water “boomed” out through the broken glass.
I broke a second piece of glass from my front door, and the water rushed out. The water level in my room dropped to my waist, and I escaped through the broken glass in my front door. The glass cut my hand deeply, and I later needed 47 stitches to close the gash.
I made it to my landlord’s living room on the first floor, only to find that our street was flooded and cars were submerged. In an instant, the basement I lived in was underwater. I made it out alive at the last second!
We were told that a family of three in our neighborhood had drowned. They were also artists.
For two days I was weak from all the blood I’d lost. Three days later, after the water receded, I went down to the basement because I was worried about a box of Falun Dafa books I’d bought from the Tianti bookstore. The basement was a big mess, but I finally found the box I was looking for. The top was not taped. I opened it and witnessed an absolute miracle: the entire box of Falun Dafa books was dry and brand new!
I was really moved by this. With one hand injured, I tied up the box with the other hand and carried it upstairs. I called my landlord and his wife, “Come and see this!” They are both kind Buddhists. They said in awe, “This intact box of Falun Dafa books is really a miracle!”
This experience changed me profoundly. On a deep level, I realized that nothing is worth clinging to, except Dafa. It is the only real thing.
First, I know that under normal circumstances, if I’d hit that glass with my hand, nothing would have happened. Moreover, at the last second, my hand was submerged and completely powerless, but I was still able to break it, which was a miracle. On the surface, it might have seemed that it was the force of the water combined with the force of my hand smashing the glass, but I believe it was Master Li protecting me.
Second, on the other side of the back door (where the water came in from) was my landlord’s garage, which faced uphill. The garage walls were built with thick, large bricks. The water had built up in the garage until it broke through a wall that strong. It was capable of destroying anything in its path. The landlord and his wife were fortunate to have gotten out of that spot in time. Otherwise, they could have been killed by that wall in just a couple of minutes.
My landlord and his wife have lived in New York for most of their lives and had never seen anything like this.
Throughout the entire process, I was constantly reciting, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good. Falun Dafa is good.” It was very natural for me to keep reciting it, and it came from my heart. Words are not enough to express my gratitude to Master Li for saving my life. My gratitude is beyond words. I wish my heart could be cleaner to be worthy of Master’s salvation.
I see this experience as a huge win. When my friends came to visit me, they saw that a lot of my paintings and a huge amount of my work was destroyed along with hundreds of books. They said, “Alas, so many works have been destroyed; it pains my heart to think about it!” I said, “Don’t be distressed. I actually feel a kind of joy because real wins are felt by the heart. I now have a different outlook on life.”
I will advise the Chinese people I meet, no matter where I go, to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations in order to be saved. I want those people who are still fooled by the CCP to wake up. I want to tell them, “It is time to wake up and quit the CCP. Please quit it.” (Note: The CCP continues to persecute Falun Dafa, as it has numerous other groups. Thus, its karma is enormous, and its demise imminent. Those who are members of its organizations are advised to quit it.)
I understand that the turmoil in today’s world is just a prelude, and more terrible disasters are yet to come. Practitioners know that the people who are fooled by the CCP will face elimination, and their lives are most in danger. Therefore, to those who have not quit the CCP, please hurry up and quit!