Many blogs and articles have been written regarding Typhoon Ondoy (aka Typhoon Ketsana)'s disastrous effect on the Philippines, which put Metro Manila under a state of calamity. So I'm not going to write about that, but something connected to it, on a rather smaller, more personal scale.
Last Friday, I was supposed to work on some projects for the office (and some other personal tasks) all due before October starts. Naturally, I'll need to bring the laptop and my personal USB HD home. But I was too tired to carry the very heavy backpack all throughout my commute from Ortigas to Kamias, so I decided to go back for it in the morning. It was raining hard that night. Little did I know that the rain won't be letting up anytime soon and that it would change the lives of a lot of my friends, including mine.
I woke up early for the Youth Visitation the next day. The rain was still at it. It showed no signs of coming to a halt. So I decided to wear my Chucks, just beacuse I really hated the feeling of having wet, icky, muddy feet. Whoops! Bad idea. I barely got to the end of K-8th, our street, and I was drenched and my Chucks were soaking wet from the rain, which, as Forrest Gump once said, went sideways and sometimes came from underneath. When I got to the end of K-8th, I was totally shocked to see a street-turned-raging river right next to ours. K-7th was no more. "It's bagyong Milenyo all over again", I said to myself. This was not entirely a shocker to me because it had happened a few times before. As I turned to look at the other side, there seemed to be water coming in from the creek nearby, slowly but surely submerging K-10th in all it's muddy glory. And our happy little street was smack in the middle of it all!
I went back, took my shoes off and braved the storm in slippers and a windbreaker. I had to withdraw some money just in case the storm gets worse. The servers of the banks might shut down and I only had 11 pesos in my wallet. Not good if this storm lasts for days. When I got back, I was really hungry so I decided to buy some food from the nearest bakery.
That's when I saw that Ondoy meant business.
This wasn't some ordinary typhoon. It was one we would never forget for years to come.
K-7th was still a raging river, only higher this time. But K-10th was no longer visible nor passable. And it had only been less than an hour! I've never seen it this deep in creek water, in all my 20+ years in Kamias. Tito A--a once very close friend of my mom, Lourd, Edge, their sister and parents were living right smack in the middle of the makeshift ocean! So I hurriedly bought a pack of cigarettes and dropped by the higher side of K-10th to ask for help from our friend Eky. Their side of the street was further away from the flooded side than ours.
I've never really helped anyone in dire situations like this and never thought the day would come when I'd brave the dirty waters and plunge right in to help save a whole family. I was brought up sheltered and kept as far away from harm as possible. I could have stayed home, dry and safe, tucked in my bed with a warm mug of chocolate and a good book. But the waters from the creek behind K-10th was rising really fast and I knew I had to set comfort aside and get help because no one was doing anything to get any of the people out. Perhaps they thought the house was high enough to keep them safe but I didn't want to take any chances. There was no way to know when the rains were going to come to an end. If no one would get them out and the storm continued to pull heavy rains into our area, they'd be trapped in there for sure and I dare not think of what would happen to them if they were.
Then, I thought of my best friend, Janice. She lives right in the middle of the raging river of K-7th. I wanted to make sure she was okay too. I wanted to swim to her house but I didn't know how I was going to pull that off! The current was so strong, cars and vans were being lifted off the sidewalks! Naturally, I was so relieved when she sent me an SMS. Her message brought bad news about their home, but I was glad she was safe and with her family. They're a strong lot. I was sure they'd help each other survive this tragedy.
Then I also remembered Dice, who used to live in Kamias and is now in Antipolo which was surely as flooded as Kamias was, if not more. I sent her a message asking if she was okay. That was all I could do for her now. There was no way to get to where she was at the moment. The only thing I could do for her is to pray He'd keep her and her family safe. She sent me a message telling me she was stuck on the 2nd floor of her house, inflating lifesavers, even joking about her floating couch and fridge. She still had spunk in her. I knew if there's anyone who was brave enough to survive this, it was Dice.
Then, I thought, if K-7th looks this bad at the East side, it was probably even worse at the West side because that part was lower than the east of Kamias. Tita G and Tito Ferds' house was at the last stretch of K-7th. That's where all the water from that street was headed for! They're surely in need of help!
And then it hit me...If Kamias was hit this hard, what more of Marikina and its neighboring towns? And my heart sank when I remembered Chino and all my cousins in Provident Village, Marikina. Normal rains brought flood waters into their village about as high as 8ft. Surely it's higher this time around! I tried calling him but his phone was turned off...
Why is this happening, I asked myself. What can I do?
Somehow, I snapped back to reality and remembered we still had to get Lourd, Edge and everyone else out of that muddy dangerous makeshift sea. It was the only thing we could do for now. The current wasn't as bad as K-7th so I knew there was a big chance we could all get out of there safely. I called RJ (who aslo lives in the middle of K-7th) up without further delay and asked him if he could help us get the Fedilos and Tito A out of their house. He went with us, no questions asked. Minutes later, Jude & Julius were also with us. RJ swam right up to the house and tried to check if they were okay but he said he couldn't see them. So he went inside (which wasn't that hard to do because the water had already reached the top of the walls) and swam all the way up to the balcony that led to the 2nd floor. A few minutes later, he was back saying they were all accounted for and safe, but as soon as they heard this wasn't flood water but creek water, they wanted to get out ASAP. There was one problem. Not everyone knew how to swim.
So we asked people we knew, who lived nearby, if they had any life jackets or rafts or even training boards. But no one had anything that could help get people safely out of the water. RJ, Jude and Eky swam back inside the house through the side gate (which was more accessible than the main gate) to help them pack the belongings they needed to save. Good thing they had big plastic containers for their things, which could easily be floated to safety. Too bad they couldn't carry the weight of full-sized people. Tita Chu lent me an empty 5-gallon water container which might help those who don't know how to swim. It was a long shot but was worth a try. As Julius and I were about to swim to the side gate, the plywood that served as a patch for the back wall of the house was knocked down from inside by Lourd and Edge's dad, revealing a pathway that was more passable than the side gate. The water level was safer here, at about half a foot higher than the waist. So Julius and I took that entrance and minutes later, we had everyone with us, including Tito A.
The house was a wreck and they barely saved anything. but Tito A was right---these were just worldly possessions that can be bought and replaced. What was more important was that everyone was safe.
We dubbed ourselves Kamias Red Cross, just to keep the mood light. :) After that "rescue operation", we checked on the Trajanos and Aricos and headed back home after hearing they were okay.
The flood waters receded late that night and Edge's parents had to go back and spend the night at their house to make sure no one sneaks in to steal what was left. Meanwhile, their kids spent the night at our place, while Tito A and his grand daughter spent the night at a friend's house. The next day, we helped the Trajanos at K-7th clean their house up. It was a total mess! Clearly, they too weren't ready for what happened.
That day was an eye-opener for me. I did things I never thought I could do. Clearly, not all "heroes" were born to be one. Others had to choose that path because of love, friendship and hope.
Ondoy's wrath brought disaster that was off the scale. But it also brought out HOPE.
What we did will be forgotten in a few days. No one will tell that tale to their children. No one will build monuments, no parties will be thrown. But I believe that no heroic act is too small.
So, I award this Medal of Honor for heroic valor, to RJ, Eky, Julius and Jude for daring to cross the line from safety to danger to save and help friends in that time of need. :)
