I woke up late on Sept 26. The rain caused by Typhoon Ondoy, which began on the afternoon the day before had not stopped. For the first time our street was totally flooded. It wasn't any cause of concern, since the water was only ankle deep on the sidewalks. We had heard rumors of water being released from the dams. I thought it wouldn't affect our subdivision.
I walked around to check how deep the water was in neighboring streets. About 5 blocks away from ours, the flood was worse. Cars left on the street were flooded about leg-deep. It was the same for the 2 other exit streets out of our subdivision. By this time, evacuating our vehicles was impossible.
After about 20 minutes of wading through the rain and flood water, I returned home to find that the flood had already entered our garage.
When I got in, water was already running in through the backdoor, and down to the basement. This was a time I had to set my camera aside. We frantically transferred all items from the basement to the sala, kitchen, and upper rooms. The water continued rising fast. It wasn't long until the flood had already reached the sala.
I remember sitting on the sofa in the sala, with the water just above my heel, weeping to the Lord and praying that the flooding would stop. Minutes later the water was on my knees; it continued to rise, very quickly.
We transferred as much household items to the upper room as we can, leaving the heavy appliances and furniture where they stood. There was already a blackout in Marikina.
I clearly remember, going back and forth the basement, saving my Nanay's library. The water was about waist high by this time and it continued to rise quickly . I told my older brother Em to watch out for me, telling him that if I shouted for him, it meant that the basement's door shut behind me and I was trapped inside. I made 3 trips to the basement, hauling a bag full of books each time. I didn't make a fourth trip, since the water was already neck-high in the basement. Some books were still left there.
Em talked to the owner of a newly built 3-storey house at the end of our street, if he could transfer his family there. The owner and his wife readily agreed. It was late in the afternoon, when Em's wife, his baby, Nanay, and our helper evacuated our house and took to the safety of the 3-storey house.
Em and I stayed at our house to guard it and to secure items from the water. The flood continued to rise on the stairs heading to the upper rooms. There was a probability that the flood would encroach there as well. If it did, there was no place higher where we could transfer the items. All we could do was hope that the water would not reach the upper rooms. I watched minutes after minutes as the water would eat one flight of stairs after another, going higher and higher.
When it seemed that it wasn't about to stop, I quickly packed my valuables. I took the legal documents of the family and the house, stored them in two layers of plastic and hid them in the highest cabinets in the upper room. Then I headed to pack clothes in case we needed to transfer to the neighbor. After that, I sealed my hard drives in 2 layers of plastic and returned them to their places. The items sealed in plastics would survive the flood. The last of which I packed were my photography equipment and my macbook. Carefully, I decided which gear to bring and which to leave. I brought almost every gear I had, stowed in my camera backpack.
Every moment since the water had entered our house seemed like a dream. I wished it were, so that I could just wake up from the terror and go on with a life devoid of calamity. But it wasn't. Since the late afternoon until the evening, we were moving every household item that we could. I never thought I had so much strength in me. I worked and worked, never feeling tired.
It was past 9 in the evening, and the water was continually rising. If the water reach the upper rooms, we would not be able to open the front and back doors of the house since they situated lower. Em and I decided to evacuate the house and flee to the neighbor. Em took the duffel bag containing our clothes. It probably weighed about 6 kilos. I hoisted my camera backpack on my shoulder. It weighed more than 10 kilos. We left by the front door and found that the water on the street was nearly as high as our chests. It was raining still. When we got out the gate, walking was far more worse than we expected, because the current was very strong. To make matters difficult, the current was opposite our direction. I remember shouting a prayer to the Lord before I stepped out of the gate - "Father, give us strength!"
We walked to the neighbor, a distance of 2 lots (houses), but the distance seemed longer that it was. Em and I carefully walked beside each other in case a current swept one of us away. While one of our arms carried our bags, the other tugged and held on to the neighbor's fences. One step, then one tug at the fences. One step, and another tug at the fences. We walked that short distance with all our strength, resting twice in between, because our arms were very sore at the weight of our bags. After about 10 minutes, we arrived at the neighbor's house, panting heavily. We were dog-tired.
We entered the house, where the 1st floor was already flooded and proceeded to the 2nd floor where we found 2 other families along with ours. When we had washed up, our neighbor invited us for supper. Nanay not wanting to trouble the owner, declined. My last meal was brunch at 10am. It was already 10pm by then. Together with Em and his wife Belle, we decided to accept the neighbor's offer and proceeded to the 3rd floor where the food was served. It was a simple meal of noodles, sardines, hotdogs, and ham. I couldn't eat as much since there were other families.
We slept late that night, our whole family in one small room. With no electricity, there was no fan. Comfort wasn't a ready commodity at that time. Each one had to do with what was available. I had trouble sleeping. Once in a while I would step out to the balcony and watch the flood. By this time, the flood had already covered the roof of a nearby taxi.
It was also during this time that I texted all my disciples and my pastor for help. I knew that we had to remove the water out of our flooded basement rooms the following day.
I slept late, around 3am, and woke up past 6am. The sunrise was brilliant from the 3rd floor deck.
The water had already receded. The taxi on the left of the photo was completely submerged at the height of the flood.
One neighbor inspected her roof for damages. I heard later on that some families had actually stayed on their roofs for the night.
When we got back to our house, everything was a mess. There was mud all over, with our household items scattered everywhere. We had trouble deciding which part of the house needed cleaning first. After a few minutes, we decided it was the sala. So we pushed our vehicles to the streets and slowly moved the items out to the garage.
And placed the trash out on the sidewalk.
A lot of the wooden furniture left in the sala were destroyed. Our kitchen furniture set was saved. The car of my younger brother was damaged. Our refrigerator, washing machine, and airconditioning unit (in the basement), and stove were also damaged.
We cleaned the house the whole day. Before lunch, 3 of my disciples arrived and helped remove water from the basement. A few more people arrived from church arrived in the afternoon, and shortly did the same. What was important was that they brought food and drinking water. (Please take time to read my blog entry on this matter
HERE)
The next day, I went around the next town, to check the extent of damages. Since the town of Calumpang sat beside the Marikina river, there was more mud on the streets. This man swept the mud with a wooden placard.
This is a reflection of the pedestrian overpass in front of the flooded SM Marikina. Water had reach the 2 level basement parking of the mall. Outside, water was mixed with oil and trash.
A delivery van was toppled over by the current on the height of the flood and had damaged the electricity post.
There was still no electricity even on the 3rd day. So I had to use a flashlight for devotions.
It took us more than a week to clean the house. Many friends and churchmates came over to help and bring food and water. All appliances have already been fixed. Ezra's car is still in repair. The van after some oil changes and repair is now working.
Click
HERE for more photos.
