Ondoy: The Aftermath



"I don’t know how to say this, but what happened to me over the weekend was traumatic and served as a lesson as well. Last September 26 (Saturday), in the midst of the typhoon Ondoy, our house was submerged under a neck-deep flood for several hours. And take note, every scene happened too fast that I could really say I’m still in the state of trauma right now. We made an effort to save our furniture and appliances in the nick of time, but sadly, not everything were saved. Our ration of rice was left soaked in the flood and only later on did we remember where it was kept. Shoes, cockroaches, plastic wares, debris of wood and leaves floated around the whole vicinity of our small subdivision. The scenery outside was more catastrophic. Strong winds and heavy rain poured, people were having a hard time crossing the flooded streets of our village, our pet dogs whined loudly for help, there was no electricity, no food, nothing at all.
            We barely made the day, if it weren’t for mom who cooked lunch earlier and had rations of err… junk foods (that were supposed to be for the dance practice that day), we would have been starving to death during the storm. At lunch we hungrily feasted on last night’s rice (keeping the newly cooked rice for supper) and unseasoned chicken; drank on clean water at least.
            At around 6 pm, water levels slowly dropped and we were able to see the ground again. But the scene was like this: our tiled floors were covered with mud, furnitures and appliances all stacked up in both floors of the house, debris lay scattered everywhere, a strong stench of the creek hung in the air, our 2nd floor of the house looked more like a bodega or a warehouse because everything looked cramped up, plants covered with mud and cockroaches hung in the leaves and stems, centipedes, leeches and snails were on the walls and shoes that are scattered outside. It was really an ugly sight. It was around 10 or 11 pm that we managed to clean up at least the floor tiles. But if you look at our house in whole, everything is really a huge MESS!—probably it would take days or a week before we could finally restore our house.
There are some things I managed to notice during the flood… unforgettable scenes that disturb me up until now. In the midst of the storm, our two dogs, Blues and Mokong went swimming inside the house in search of a dry place to stay. They went through under our staircase but it was only Mokong who managed to make it. Blues was stucked in the small hole made by the table beside the staircase. She was helplessly placing her paws on the table to avoid drowning… her whining reached us and so I quickly waded into the flood to help her get on it, but my brother stopped me since she has this temper towards me. I stood there helplessly staring at her tired and scared face, until moments later; she decided to go back and later on found the steps of our staircase and went up there. The whole scene kinda reminded me of Al Gore’s Inconvenient truth… that scene about the polar bears searching for a sturdy ice cap to land on. Also from the text message from my friend in the Otakuzine forums, the flood in their area rose up to 8 ft. It somehow reminded me of Richard Guttierez’s documentary, Signos, where he took up that issue about floods here in our country; that there will come a time that it will really happen to us. And it felt like it already did that time and it made me cringe in fear when I realized that.
Up until now, the memories brought by the typhoon Ondoy remain etched in the wounds and scratches I got during the incident. I do hope this would deserve as a lesson not just for me but for everyone as well. That people will take action to the environmental problems we are facing now before it’s too late and that we would realize how tremendous Mother Earth’s wrath can be."


Taken from my journal entries in my laptop last September 27, 2009, Sunday.



But you know, we were far more luckier than those people in the cities of Marikina and Rizal. Also I'm glad one of our batchmates in my college is found now (yep he's alive! hurray!), our guildmates who are residing in Quezon city, Marikina and Rizal are alive and safe as well... but I really feel bad about the victims...especially in Marikina. People are found lying dead in the ground, some in the floating in the rivers and some even died hugging an electric post! T__T I really couldn't sleep well last night thinking about it. I am itching to help or volunteer in anyway I can. (But then I finally did!--well donate only though.. :D I was able to collect 3 big trash bags full of old clothes and donated them to the victims of the Typhoon Ondoy in Sta. Mesa)  
Speaking of which, Otakuzine is having an Ozine Outreach Program which aims to send help to the victims of the Typhoon Ondoy. Blankets, pillows, medicines and ready to eat foods or canned goods are very much needed. You can send your donations to Otakuzine Office: Unit 3F, Golden Tree Mansion, Banahaaw st., Cubao, Quezon city. Also, Otakuzine is needing extra hands as well. So drop by now!  
Also scroll down Filipina TV host and actress Bianca Gonzales' blog for more ways on how you can help the victims of the Typhoon Ondoy. :D Or you could check out Lumella's deviantart journal if you're a Lasallian and wants to extend a hand as well to the victims!^^ Lumella on Deviantart

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