The day Typhoon 'Ondoy' rained on my 42nd Birthday

Sept. 26, 2009…for me, it was the date of my 42^nd birthday. Unfortunately, for many Filipinos living in the greater Metropolitan Manila area and neighboring provinces, it will go down in history as the day of the worst flooding disaster in almost half a century.

‘Ondoy’ (International name – Ketsana) was the 15^th tropical cyclone to have hit the country and already the fourth during the month of September.

My family was in Baguio City at the time oblivious to the tragic turn of events that happened in the national capital region except through text messages and television news reports we saw in the evening. I couldn’t visualize or imagine what had transpired until much later when I saw the various pictures and saw some of the affected areas myself.

PAGASA (an acronym for the country’s public weather bureau) forecasted that the storm will not cross Metro Manila but will still experience “moderate to heavy rains” that weekend.

The “moderate to heavy rains” that Saturday dumped unto the metropolis, an estimated 34 centimeters of rain water in only 6 hours. Recent records show that that amount was almost equivalent to the total rainfall we got in a month. The only rainfall higher than that in the same area was recorded a little more than 42 years ago. 39 centimeters of rain fell in the same area (but was accumulated in 24 hours) in June of 1967. Another sad coincidence – but yes, it happened in 1967, the same year I was born.

Approximately half a million people’s homes were inundated. Officials said that about 115,000 of these people were moved to around 200 schools, churches and other evacuation shelters.

More than 300 lives were lost during this tragic event.

The following pictures were forwarded to me by CFC Brod Danny Samia, a few days after the disaster hit the metro. I’m showing them in this post along with some other photos that the world may see what I fear would soon happen again not only here but in many other countries if we do not responsibly address climate change and other related environmental concerns.

Flooded underpass along Ayala Avenue in Makati City

Parts of C 5 Road are inundated

Taft Avenue in front of my college alma mater – De La Salle University (DLSU)

The Mercedes Benz E-class vehicle shown here is but one of many cars
damaged and carried away by the flood waters

Along historic EDSA

The Fort “Global City” in Taguig

Katipunan Ave. in front of Ateneo de Manila University

An overflowing Marikina river

Many people climbed up to their roofs

Pasong Tamo in Makati

Perennially flooded UST grounds became one big lake

Araneta Avenue in Quezon City

Wilson Ave. in Greenhills, San Juan

Flooded street and cars near Xavier School

The next set of pictures was from a resident in a Gawad Kalinga (GK) site where I presently serve - GK Melchor Aquino in Barangay Sta. Lucia, Quezon City. By God’s grace, there were no fatalities in that GK site. Other parts of the same barangay were not as fortunate as several people living in nearby streets died and/or lost their houses in the rushing flood waters.

GK Melchora during the height of the heavy rains and flooding last Sept. 26

Rains have subsided but the flood waters remained high

As the waters receded, the extent of property damage is made very clear

Filipinos as a people are extremely resilient….

…so the process of rebuilding lives starts again and goes on….

Other forwarded pictures to me include:

This photo of an ill fated family fighting for their lives
clinging to their destroyed house floating through the Marikina river

An aerial view of the heavy rains' destructive aftermath

Stranded city dwellers bravely traversed the flood waters as rescue efforts ensued

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was quoted in saying that ‘Ondoy’ (Ketsana) and the flooding were “an extreme event” which “strained our response capabilities to the limit but ultimately did not break us.”

Well I have news for our transactional leader in Malacaňang Palace. This ‘extreme event’ is more likely the norm of things to come considering the unabated logging in the Sierra Madre mountain range to the east of Metro Manila, uncontrolled housing development in ecologically critical or unsafe areas, the over silted and polluted state of Laguna de Bay and Marikina river and the solid waste problem which besets the national capital region.

And what response capabilities was she talking about??? The government barely had any rubber boats to rescue people from the roofs of their homes, much less other hi-tech rescue equipment to ferry people to safety. The truth of the matter was the government was caught flat footed in what could have been the greatest hour of public service by the Arroyo administration.

But she was right about one thing. The Filipinos are a resilient lot. The storm didn’t break our spirit as a nation. It was also during these tragic times that the best of the Filipino citizenry came out.

It is my hope that this unity of the Filipino people especially during times of adversity be properly channeled and sustained not only in rebuilding efforts but in responding responsibly and decisively with regard to the abovementioned concerns which ultimately involved global warming and climate changes.

This hope is my post birthday wish and pressing advocacy.

Another storm is brewing on the horizon….

Let us heed nature’s warnings….before it’s too late.