What happened to me the weekend of Ondoy? Pepeng ? Santi? It was miraculous I should say, I had class that day and left home at 9 am while the typhoon started rampaging the city. I was in my car and noticed that the rain was too strong and the drops were too close to each other. I didn’t think of it as disastrous only until 11 am when it was not stopping. I remember some years ago that it didn’t stop raining for a whole week. Anyway, I got to my senses when Apol asked permission to leave since his family lives near a waterway, he feels that water has gone up his house and is scared that they might be floating somewhere so I let him go. The class that was suppose to start at 10am, started at 1pm with only half of the students coming in but lo and behold they were almost complete for the seminar at 6pm. My gardener LukeLuke…cute noh, was constantly texting me on what was happening around our village and he wrote that I should not go home due to the flood on the entrance and no electricity. I called my Ate Cynthia and she said not for me to go to Valle at the moment, water was waist deep. I was in school and was very fortunate that it is located in one of the highest areas in San Juan. Everywhere around us the water was a person deep but after three hours it was gone even if the rain continued pouring. By 8 pm, I was in Valle 6 with the Gavinos. Luckily, I had a bundle of clothes from the laundry shop that would be my clothes for the next week. Water in Taguig didn’t move or lessen, then the next storm, Pepeng was heading Luzon again. That Thursday, I decided to go and get some clothes, my laptop outlet and some other stuffs I might need if the water starts rising again. Apol was with me as with drove through the waters which was brownish and greenish and smelled terrible. He brought up the SUV into my garden so that I no longer need to thread the murky waters. Pepeng never came, with enough prayers. While all this was happening, I helped the first person who needed it, Apol, money, clothes and food I gave him everyday he came to work. He decided to move his family to Laguna so that the events of Ondoy his wife and kids can forget. After two weeks, Santi was another typhoon named after I don’t know the gourmet store, heheh. Just got back from class when my Ate Cynthia called me that Friday, she said a storm is coming, please come and stay here in Valle Verde. I had second thoughts because I was already resting in the comforts of my room ready to sleep but I decided to go and stay with her, whatever may happen I was still in her loving arms. So after half an hour of fixing and packing clothes and books to bring, I left again for Valle 6. Took me more than an hour in traffic, hungry and calm, I was home….during all these terrible events, praying to Mama Mary was the priority for the whole day, but the prayer was for saving others who would be in the path of the storm, that our fruits of labour would be spared from the strong winds and rain and it did. I have very bad memories of storms and I hide or put a pillow on top of my ears not to hear the winds and the strong rain drops, I could never forget my cousin’s losing their roof and seeing the results. Everytime it rains is not a good day for me.
No pictures for this post, everyone has seen what I typhoon can do to everything we own.
