Out of all the typhoons I've witnessed, Typhoon Ondoy has made the most impact on us.
Being a resident of Marikina City, we're accustomed to floods during the rainy season. As with other residents, we have our own set of protocols when we're expecting flood waters to rise. All our sofas and chairs are placed on top of wooden tables. Everything on the ground is placed on higher shelves. All appliances are unplugged and our main power switch is shutdown. Candles, matches, batteries, and flashlights are all checked and made sure that they are easily reachable when needed. And whatever food, water and goods we can use to eat and drink is saved and placed upstairs in case of emergency. There are lots of other minor details we follow and most of the time, the water just goes up to knee level which in our experience, is not very detrimental. Of course it's saddening and we all know that when the floods subside, there is a whole lot of cleanup that follows. But it's feasible.
What happened with Typhoon Ondoy is one of a kind. Never has the rains poured non-stop and in an extremely alarming amount. Never has the flood water rise so high in a short span of time. And so even with all the precautions and preparations we had, we were totally caught offguard. The floods in our house rose to an all-time high and a 1st for us, at five feet deep. And by this time, eveyrthing started floating. Walking your way through floating obstacles in shoulder-high waters is not an easy task. How much more difficult would it be for our less fortunate victims of the flood who have experienced deeper waters with nowhere to go.
After the storm, people were left hungry, homeless, sick and weak. Thousands of families suffered heavily from the floods.
It's a good thing that many have heard of the devastation and destruction Typhoon Ondoy has left. Victims needed help and there was an enormous population of victims to cater to. As a result, several groups, organizations and volunteers emerged to adhere to the victims.
One of those groups who have offered their unconditional support is the Lopez Group of Companies. Called "Sagip Kapamilya", they called on everyone to donate in cash and in kind. Backed up by ABS-CBN's vast media resources, they were able to conduct a nationwide call for donations and in such a short amount of time, they were able to collect millions which was being constantly used to buy relief goods for victims. Even ABS-CBN personalities and celebrities actively helped first hand in delivering relief goods to the typhoon victims. Thanks to Sagip Kapamilya, you see the nation becoming one. Kudos to their relief efforts.
On behalf of my fellow city citizens, salamat sa Sagip Kapamilya from Marikina. For updates on cash and kind donation totals, check out their Facebook page or their website at http://www.lopezlink.ph.
Being a resident of Marikina City, we're accustomed to floods during the rainy season. As with other residents, we have our own set of protocols when we're expecting flood waters to rise. All our sofas and chairs are placed on top of wooden tables. Everything on the ground is placed on higher shelves. All appliances are unplugged and our main power switch is shutdown. Candles, matches, batteries, and flashlights are all checked and made sure that they are easily reachable when needed. And whatever food, water and goods we can use to eat and drink is saved and placed upstairs in case of emergency. There are lots of other minor details we follow and most of the time, the water just goes up to knee level which in our experience, is not very detrimental. Of course it's saddening and we all know that when the floods subside, there is a whole lot of cleanup that follows. But it's feasible.
What happened with Typhoon Ondoy is one of a kind. Never has the rains poured non-stop and in an extremely alarming amount. Never has the flood water rise so high in a short span of time. And so even with all the precautions and preparations we had, we were totally caught offguard. The floods in our house rose to an all-time high and a 1st for us, at five feet deep. And by this time, eveyrthing started floating. Walking your way through floating obstacles in shoulder-high waters is not an easy task. How much more difficult would it be for our less fortunate victims of the flood who have experienced deeper waters with nowhere to go.
After the storm, people were left hungry, homeless, sick and weak. Thousands of families suffered heavily from the floods.
It's a good thing that many have heard of the devastation and destruction Typhoon Ondoy has left. Victims needed help and there was an enormous population of victims to cater to. As a result, several groups, organizations and volunteers emerged to adhere to the victims.
On behalf of my fellow city citizens, salamat sa Sagip Kapamilya from Marikina. For updates on cash and kind donation totals, check out their Facebook page or their website at http://www.lopezlink.ph.
Photo: ABS-CBN Kapamilya stars among them Zanjoe Marudo and Shaina Magdayao, went to different evacuation centers and flood-ravaged areas to help distribute relief goods and bring comfort to the victims of typhoon Ondoy through ABS-CBN Foundation's Sagip Kapamilya efforts. (courtesy of Lopezlink Flickr account)
- Tuesday, October 13, 2009
- 0 Comments
Unfortunately, we've been hardly hit and affected by the recent Typhoon Ondoy last Sept 26. (Day 1) where flood waters reached to an all-time high of almost 5 feet inside our house. This is the worst and deepest we've ever experienced here in our house in SSS Village,
Typhoon Ondoy's rainfall in a short span of time was measured to be more than what an average month worth of rainfall was. On top of this all, Marikina is also affected by the overflowing and releasing of water from 2 dams which pass through the Marikina River. The river overflowed and so instead of our street waters being channeled towards the river, the waters from the river were spilling outwards to all areas.
By mid afternoon, the rains stopped and all we could do was look out the window to see the extent of flooding the typhoon has left. Flood was everywhere. We couldn't find a single piece of ground not left submerged outside. Come evening, everything was dark and quiet. With no lights and no people in the streets, our area was rendered as a ghost town. No lights, no sound and just the calmness of the flood waters still evident everywhere. This is the time we were already listening to the radio and found out that a lot of our fellow city residents weren't as lucky as we were. The hardest hit was Provident Village, some, 4 kilometers away from us with the Marikina River in between our village's location. The residents there had to climb their rooftops as the waters totally submerged all ground floors of the houses. We also heard that several villages along the riverbanks have been severely affected. Being a resident of Marikina, I wanted to contact all my friends and relatives to find out if they're ok. But not having any means of contacting them rendered us a desolate island. Concerned friends and relatives were also trying to get hold of us but couldn't. We were just lucky that the rains had stopped and the waters were subsiding little by little.
The next morning (Day 2), the flood waters inside the house were gone. The street still had some flood but only up to the legs. We then saw the aftermath of the typhoon. Everything was drenched and covered with mud. The TV, refrigerator, washer & dryer, cabinets, tables, sofas, clothes several belongings were mostly damaged. Our humungous ref was lying down on the floor as the waters gently laid down the floating ref. Our china cabinet broke in half. Most of the wooden and cardboard cabinets weakened. Utensils and plates were all muddy. The cars' interior were all damp and grounded. Unsaved food was scattered all around the house.
It's a good thing my tita and cousins who lived in Marikina Heights weren't severely affected and dropped by to check up on us. They brought us food and drinks, which we really needed. I asked them to charge my celphone so I could keep the lines of communication open. We were cleaning the house the rest of the day and threw anything we couldn't recover anymore. The entire day was tiring and by night time, we were all exhausted with overfatigue from cleaning.
