September 28 - October 4, 2009: Aftermath of the Perfect Flood

Classes were suspended for the whole week....... initially just until Tuesday. After due consideration by the concerned authorities, it was deemed best to suspend classes for the whole week........ Some schools would be used for relief efforts. The break will give devastated families a time to recover whatever they can; to grieve for their departed loved ones and losses; and to try to make sense of why this calamity befell us.... I was hoping work would be suspended too ....... to give those affected a time to rise up and get on with life. To the lucky ones like us, it is a time to share whatever we can.... In the face of this calamity, we should give till it hurts......

I was off to work on Monday when I received a text message from an officemate telling me that there was no electricity in our building and employees from another office were sent home. I stopped on my tracks unsure what to do. I tried calling her but for some reason she was dropping my calls. I texted our boss who replied that if the other employees were being sent home, then we maybe we could go home too. Even with the uncertainty of that reply, I turned around and walked home as there was a feeling of emptiness gnawing inside of me. Reaching home, I kept tuned in to the news on the typhoon's aftermath both on TV and on the PC.

As victims tried to rebuild their lives and make a sense of what struck them, two other storms were a-brewing. As Tropical Storm Pepeng (International name: Parma)packing winds of 120 kph entered the Philippine area of responsibility, another weather system with the international name "Melor" was located in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. Malacanang called for prayers as if admitting that the government burdened with relief efforts could not handle the another disaster.

In other parts of Southeast Asia, Typhoon Ondoy with international name "Ketsana" continued to rampage Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia as floodings killed hundreds. A series of tsunamis smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa after an 8.0 magnitute undersea earthquake struck in American Samoa........ killing hundreds, destroying properties, and forcing inhihabitants to seek higher grounds. Sumatra in Indonesia would be struck by two successive earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.9 and 6.8 trapping people in clollapsed buildings and causing a black out in the entire area. Reports put the casulaties at 467 with many unaccounted for as scores remain trapped in the collapsed buildings.

Is God's wrath befalling us?

Images of the storm's aftermath continued to play over and over on TV. It's too much to bear..... Yet, I can't help but watch it. I rode a bus for the whole week to be tuned in to the news. One time, a bus was playing a movie video and I went down to ride another bus just so I could be tuned in to the news. One particular image which I kept replaying in my mind is that of a family on a roof sailing in rampaging floodwaters. The scene was like that we see in the movies but this one is for real..... One cannot help but agonize over the family trapped in that dire situation holding on to life. What the father and mother could be feeling at that exact moment is beyond anything I could have felt in my life....



I can actualy breathe misery and despair in the air these days. My faith is being put to the test....

Yet, it was the perfect flood to bring the best and worst in people. As usual, our government and their apologists were in unison in rationalizing their obvious unpreparedness in handling disasters putting the blame on nature's wrath. Help came alright, albeit late and inadequate. Private citizens had to take matters into their own hands. An email circulating tells of an account of a man who had to buy a boat and was actually the first one to arrive at Provident Village to rescue his brother and his family and their dad. Celebrities helped stars trapped in their homes. The private sector led the efforts in relief operations with scores of volunteers doing their part to make sure that the victims receive timely aid for their survival and sustenance in the coming days. Individuals scoured their closets and pantries for anything that could still be used by the flood victims. Even victims who felt blest enough to survive the floods shared whatever they can saying they were affected but otheres are in much direr straits. Yes, we are a compassionate people.........

Then, there was the mad scramble for relief goods in areas not easily reached by donors. There are the usual suspicions on some officials stealing relief goods to resell them to victims. There were the victims themselves selfishly hoarding the goods at the expense of other victims.

But Filipinos can managed to smile amidst his misery. Blame it on our fatalistic
attitude to blindly accept everything that happens as inevitable. Maybe. the eternal optimist in us can see the silver lining in downcast skies. We take such misfortune as part of life and strive to move on. Maybe we have been used to so much disasters that we have developed the capacity to look beyond what is clearly at hand. Maybe, there are no more tears to cry when your eyes are red and dry from crying from our so-called life..........

When news of Typhoon Peping came about, there was fear in everyone's heart. It's like waiting for doomsday. I had that eerie feeling as I went home early and hurriedly walked to catch the shuttle service provided by our office that Friday. Once inside, we all braced ourselves for a long journey ahead recalling similar experiences in the past where we got stranded for hours because of floods.

Before midnight on Friday, I got a text message from my nephew telling me that Typhoon Peping veered away sparing Metro Manila. Before that, several text messages came on preparations in case Peping hits and calls for prayers. Maybe heavens heard our call for help with the uneasiness of a distressed citizenry who hasn't quite risen up, over a government that cannot protect nor help us.

In the weekend, we all sighed relief as Peping's winds became just a cool breeze for Manilans. Relief efforts continued and will continue in the days to come. Northeren Luzon, however, was not spared by Typhoon Peping which continues to wreck havoc by the week's end......... Reeling from one disaster, a friend texted asking for prayers for her family in Tuguegarao as the storm battered them........

Lessons are best learned not through the minds but when our hearts are pierced.

Related Posts:
Pagasa: Typhoon ‘Melor’ dictating path of ‘Pepeng’
Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) Moving Towards N. Luzon
Villages 'wiped out' by tsunami after Samoa quake
Second earthquake hits stricken Sumatra