Revisiting Ondoy/Ketsana

Today's post is quite timely considering I'm holed up at home due to another typhoon. At this time, Pedring (international name: Nesat) is pounding Northern Luzon with its powerful winds and driving rain. It has already caused a storm surge strong enough to have inundated Roxas Boulevard and places such as the US Embassy. The noontime news show the highway to be passable only by boat.

Exactly two years to the day, Metro Manila and much of its adjacent areas especially Rizal were submerged by water from unprecedented rainfall. It was the equivalent of a month's rain pouring unto Metro Manila over a 6 hour period. And the result was devastation everywhere with more than 400 people killed according to official estimates. Much of the Marikina Valley including where we lived and my parent's house were deep in muddy water with Marikina City one of the hardest hit by floods that reached up to the second level of many homes.

Following is a photo journal of the flooding brought about by Ondoy:

September 26, 2009: Day One

We woke up to find floodwaters rising so fast that we only had time to take one car parked outside to our garage. We thought the flood won't even enter our garage.

The two cars didn't stand a chance as the water rose steadily. We made the painful but helpless decision to abandon thoughts about the cars. Instead, we concentrated on saving much of what we had at the first level of our home. These included books, documents, and appliances that we could carry upstairs.

We were able to set-up a makeshift kitchen on our second level where we could cook. An old dining table from our former apartment that was converted into a working table was again made into a dining table. We left our dining table and other furniture downstairs. Fortunately, most of them were made of hardwood and floated. They were mostly undamaged by the floods.

We couldn't save our sofa but these were eventually cleaned and dried a week after Ondoy and a couple of other typhoons. We still use them today in our living room, a testament of sorts to surviving disaster. The photo above shows the flood level on our first floor in mid-afternoon. Our helper was a bit traumatized as she had not experienced such flooding in her life (same with the Clairvoyant). She went back to her hometown in December but returned the following year. She's still with us today.

This was what our first floor dining area looked like when we finally decided to call it a day. The big item floating in the center is our refrigerator. Surprisingly, water was not able to enter the unit and most of the food inside was preserved. There was still ice in the freezer and whatever items we were able to cook in the following days. The ref was not damaged and after cleaning and drying, it went back into operation as if nothing had happened to it.

September 27, 2009: Day Two

We awoke early the following morning to survey the devastation. Peering out of our bedroom window, we could see the rooftops of our 2 cars in the garage. Ondoy's waters were actually deeper and we couldn't see the rooftops at one point during the night. Two of our garbage bins apparently floated around and found their place atop my old Crown. Note the muddy waters and the mud that settled atop the cars.

Our neighbor's cars didn't fare any better and one could see two submerged vehicles in the photos above - one black and one red Lancer. We were a bit lucky because we found out later that other cars floated, drifted and collided with others in the basketball courts in our subdivision.

This was what our dining area looked like mid-morning of the 27th when the flood waters were receding. The highwater mark is indicated by the watermark on the curtain on the upper left part of the photo.

This was our kitchen after we had cleaned out the mud from the tops. We had to clean-up the all the time so that the mud wouldn't have the chance to harden. Fortunately, we had a good supply of disinfectant that we could use at the time.

Meanwhile, people were already boating outside our home using makeshift rafts.

September 28, 2009:

That's me talking to our next door neighbor whose home improvement project was delayed because of the typhoon. The waters have already receded but the gargantuan task of cleaning up was just starting for many of our neighbors whose homes were lower than ours.

The mud on our garage was quite thick and we only got to clean it up after the cars were towed to the repair shops. The Crown survived Ondoy but is practically "comatose" and is now garaged in a repair shop, still awaiting parts that may not be found anymore.

This was what one of our cars' engine looked like when we finally had the chance to inspect them. Today, our Mazda 3 is working perfectly, and you wouldn't guess it was a flooded unit except perhaps with the new sound system and the lights that show remnants of mud from Ondoy's floods. We had the air condition unit, panel board, and airbags replaced. We also had it detailed and made sure about the fluids. Fortunately, the computer box was not damaged. Even so, we spent a small fortune in repairs.

This was what our living area looked like post Ondoy. We're thankful to officemates who came by to help in the cleaning. UP wasn't flooded and most of my staff lived on campus and extended helping hands for the cleaning effort.

A look at our makeshift dining area in one of our second floor rooms. Notice all the things we packed inside this room. We have 3 rooms on our second level and ample space for most of our things. We also have 2 toilets upstairs so we had no problems regarding sanitation.

Two months after Ondoy, we had our home repaired and repainted in time for the Christmas season. We are just hopeful these days that with every typhoon that comes our way, there won't be another Ondoy.