The Storm

No matter what you want to call it, Ketsana internationally or Ondoy, for Pinoys, the storm that has just passed through the Philippines was devastating and incredibly destructive. I cannot speak for the Filipinos who have experienced such tragedies in their lives in the past, I myself have never experienced such a stressful ordeal, but I can say that it left me flabbergasted. 

In a way, it opened up my eyes to a lot of things that used to elude me in the past. Prior to this storm, I would see news clips and videos of storms, typhoons and hurricanes hitting several places all over the world. I sit there in front of my TV screen, thinking to myself, “Gosh…that’s sad.” But really, I never knew what it actually felt to be there, suffering. Actually, I still don’t. But it’s a lot closer to home than I’d hoped.

I was one of the lucky few who was saved from having to brave the floods, the raging under-currents, the mud, the dirt and the pain-staking hunger others had to survive. Before I could even get near my place, the roads were being closed due to the amount of water that was starting to rise. I spent my weekend in Ortigas and Pasig. Sunday night, I spent over at my friends place in Quezon City. I didn’t get home until Monday morning.

The way home was eerie. You can see the marks on the buidlings showing you how high the water level got at some places. The traffic was worse than ever, and yet I couldn’t feel it. There were people outside without shoes, slippers. They were wearing tattered clothes and were holding on to each other with a look of longing in their eyes. I couldn’t imagine what it was they were thinking.

My best friend and I stopped to visit our friends who were stranded for over 24 hours without food. The last we heard from them was Saturday night. They were staying on top of a Jeepney because the water had risen that high. Their efforts to try and walk through the flood was futile. The water was taller than most of them and the under-current was growing increasingly strong. 

On  the way to my friends house, you can see the destruction it left. Garbage, more than normal anyway, was scattered all throughout the streets. There was mud everywhere and remnants of what looked like household furniture was in the middle of the road, probably swept off from the dwellings nearby. 

My friends encountered their story to me and my best friend and we were in utter shock at the events that they had to go through. They had to climb and stay the night on the roof of a covered basketball court in the area. They said there were kids as young as 1 yr. old that they had to help to get there, whilst others were just watching in anticipation. For hours they waited for somebody to rescue them, trying to contact who they could and then eventually all of their cell phone batteries died. 

Food was scarce and they had to share what they had. When bags of chips would float by, they would swim for it and share it with the rest. One guy, Joff, said that it seemed as though they were playing out a disaster movie. One of the things they said that moved me and really struck a chord, was that the fact that they were there was both a curse and a blessing, because of they weren’t there, what would happen to those who could not help themselves get to safety. Heroes, that’s what these people are. 

I eventually got to Cainta after waiting an hour or so through the traffic and waiting for any vehicle to drive me there. Once there, I opted to walk rather than to commute straight to my place. When I got off, I could barely recognize the place. A bustling market became a ghost town. All the roads were filled with mud, some areas had a fowl stench that I was hoping came from garbage rather than from bodies. 

As I walked home, I decided to try and visit the relatives that were nearby. For some odd reason, my family is extremely tight and like to stay in a very close vicinity towards each other. Houses that have never been flooded before now were in ruins. The clean up efforts at my cousins’ place were just beginning. There was no running water, no electricity, no signal on our phones(which would have been useless anyway since all the phones were dead). At my cousins neighborhood, the water level went as high as above people’s heads. I couldn’t imagine having been there all weekend. 

This storm really scared the lving life out of me. I couldn’t contact my friends or family. My family back in Canada, my mom and dad were frantic to try and get a hold of me or anyone for that matter. The feeling that you weren’t in control really took over and it was the scariest feeling I have ever felt. Not knowing what the outcome would be, not knowing who’s safe and who’s not, being in the dark as to what was happening around you; I felt nothing but trepidation. 

Now, I realized that these events don’t discriminate. They don’t just hit the lowly provinces. They don’t just hit the poor and the homeless. They don’t just target a specific group of people. They can and they will affect anyone. I learned that this past weekend and am still learning it today. 

We all need to start living our lives to the fullest. We should look at the world in a positive light and master and conquer our true potential. 

To those who are furious and are on the hate campaign right now, I know that I cannot even assume to understand your frustrations. But, let’s stop looking at who’s to blame for not being prepared for this storm, or not having the resources to prevent all the deaths and misplaced families. Rather, let’s look on to the future on how we can solve the problem that the storm has left for us to deal with. Let’s prepare for any future storm and make certain that we are ready when Mother Nature crosses our paths again. Let’s leave irrelevant discussion of somebody’s facebook comment to simpletons. Let’s help each other out, fix the problem and prepare for the future. This is the only way to progress and grow and move on from such a calamity. 

Please donate to the victims of the storm. To donate to the Philippine National Red Cross via text message:

Just type “RED <space> <amount>” then send to 2899 for Globe and 4483 for Smart. Valid denominations are 5, 25, 50, 100 and 300.