A week before “habagat” (southwest monsoon) wreaked havoc in Metro Manila, it rained hard causing flash flood in some areas of the metropolis. Who would think that even without a typhoon signal, flood waters would rise again? Those three days that we stayed in our neighbor’s house reminded me of typhoon Ondoy which destroyed most of our belongings three years ago. There are several factors that caused the flood but I won’t go into details about it since this is a perennial problem in our country every time the rainy season sets in. Our mountains especially in the areas of Montalban are now bare causing rain waters to flow freely, inundating rivers that in return overflows to low-lying areas like ours. The problem with informal settlers who are near bridges and waterways hasn’t been solved yet so with high-rise buildings (built by influential people) which should not be there in the first place. Palakasan or lagay? One of the major factors that among us Filipinos are probably guilty of is how we haphazardly throw trash everywhere. A few months ago, I blogged about this. It’s a case of “as long as it is not in my backyard or in front of my house”, who cares? Discipline is the key and it is never too late to change our ways. Believe it or not, this contributes to flooding because the water canals are clogged.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino in an article posted by ABS CBN news said that Metro Manila can never be flood resistant but it can be flood resilient. I hate this feeling of always being afraid every time it rains hard. It’s as if one would always have that feeling of insecurity when the rainy season sets in, more so when there is a typhoon signal.
I took pictures of the flood in our vicinity not because I’d like to be reminded of the pain it brought me and my son and our neighbors affected by it but I just like to share that when nature’s wrath is at one’s door, you are helpless to do anything but pray.
This was at the back of the house, flood waters kept rising past on the first day and 90% of Metro Manila got flooded.
Our small pond was inundated so we lost the Koi fish (all of them) which we took care of for three years.
Notice the rising waters on day two. It reached knee-high inside our house and about ankle-deep in our bedrooms and since we have to save everything, it took us a while to transfer and put them in higher places. Until now, my back aches because of so much work, putting back everything where they used to be and cleaning the house- read – scrubbing the floors with disinfectant.
It was like a ghost town…
Ang layo pa ng umaga! Taken at dusk – no electricity, no radio and the world was just so gloomy.
Notice that red mark on the Meralco post? That was where we gauged if the water level went up or down.
Another week in history is over. Thank God for the gift of sunshine. Thank God for the gift of friends who are always there to cheer us up.
Dreams And Escapes 
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