Havoc that Ondoy brought us...

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Everyone’s caught off-guard yesterday as typhoon Ondoy continue to pound Metro Manila including 23 provinces (Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizacaya, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zam bales, Bulacan, Rizal, Quezon, Isabela, Mt. Province, Benguet, Ifugao, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Cavite, Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Batangas, Marinduque, Camarines Norte). These provinces were under state of calamity.

In a matter of 6 hours the whole Metro Manila was inundated. Badly hit were Marikina, Quezon City and Pasig. The water had risen as high as two-storey house. Many families were trapped on the roof seeking for rescue. My brother Buboy and his family live in Pasig. They lived in a two-storey house. My brother had a duty that day and had left the house early in the morning with only rain shower. My sister-in-law , Janelma, had also left the house that morning. She went to Makati Medical Center to fetch her mother and Zaldy, who was confined there two-days ago. Zaldy was discharged in the hospital and they’re all ready to go home. Due to torrential rain, they weren’t able to hail a cab. Taxi drivers just refused every passengers in the streets. My nephew, Christian, my brother’s father-in-law, Tatay, Janilyn and their cousin Mica were left behind the house.

In just a matter of 6 hours, the two-storey house they lived in was already submerged in water. Earlier that day, my brother had called me from his work and informed that flood continue to rise and was already worried about my nephew. Janelma had also called from the hospital and informed that everyone in the house went upstairs as the ground floor was already half-filled with water.

I was at home the whole day yesterday. I even contemplated of going to the office in the morning but due to heavy rain I decided to just stay home. I stay tuned in the television for updates and had written emergency numbers to call for rescue. Janelma had informed me that everyone in their house had transferred to their neighbour’s house which was more elevated than theirs. The water inside their house already reached the flooring of the 2nd floor. Tatay was quick and had made an opening on the wall of their house and they transferred to another house just beside theirs. Their neighbour was kind enough to let them in. The rain continued to pour and had reached their neighbour’s house second flooring. So everyone in that house had abandoned it and transferred to the next house, this time it’s a 4- storey house that everyone was accommodated. They went to the roof in order to transfer to the 3rd house. The 3rd and 4th floors were filled with other families and that were also seeking shelters.

I'm very worried and helpless. The only thing I can do at that moment was to pray. I worried about my nephew Christian whose only 4 years old. He had to go through this situation at an early age. I was thankful though that Tatay was very alert with this kind of situation. Janilyn had kept the communication open using her celphone. She keeps us updated and from time to time if signal permits we call her on the celphone.

As the night falls, most of the thoroughfares in Metro Manila were impassable. It was a good thing that LRT/MRT administrations continued their operation but commuters are still stranded. Buboy was able to ride the LRT from Pedro Gil station and stayed at our house. Vilma and Cel are my cousins living with me. They both work at Trinoma. They had to walk past Munoz, where water was until chest-high.

Buboy was able to talk to Christian. He told his kid to stay put and be brave. There was light moment when my brother was talking to his son. Christian told Buboy not to go to the house, “daan ka na lang sa bubong kasi baha”.

As of this writing, Christian, Tatay, Janilyn, Mica and together with the families are still stuck inside the 4-storey house. They had eaten their meals though.

This morning rescue teams are now in Pasig area. The rain already stopped and the sun has shown its light. The water though has not yet subsided in Pasig as compared to Marikina. It was devastating to see the wrath brought by Ondoy.

At this very moment, we can only pray that the waters will already ebb so the rescue will continue.

God help us all.