I am unsure if the week had been totally bad or just neutral for me… last week Typhoon Ondoy had hit Philippine shores and unfortunately my family was one of those affected by its wrath. Our house was filled with awful smelling mud, my car collection was soaked and I am not sure if it’s all okay, all our clothes smell like they were thrown on a swamp and we have to all wash them (ugh… the back pain), I’m all cut and bruised but at least no one was hurt… it was the only consolation I could think of… oh and my anime DVD collection was miraculously dry… I don’t know how but it was with everything else inside the house and it’s dry.

Well other people had it far worse so I know I don’t have any right to complain so I won’t.  Although I think may have been traumatized one way or another… I used to love watching the rain and now I can’t stand the thought that each drop of rain could eventually eat our whole house up if we aren’t careful.  I stopped buying stuff which isn’t really needed temporarily because at the back of my mind I am scared that anything I buy would just end up useless just like the anime collectibles I bought way way back.

I’ll give you a little account of what happened to us … it was an ordinary Saturday morning, I was recuperating from sickness so I was mostly in bed. My father and I (plus 4 dogs) were the only ones in the house because my mom and other sibs were visiting my granddad. The rain started to pour and at that time, I was looking forward to it thinking that the coldness would give me a better sleep… I was wrong.

The rain continuously fell and by 9 in the morning, the water was inside the house. We never experienced being flooded so my dad was already panicking, raising some of the electronics on a higher part of the house. I was still calm at that time since the water was just up to my ankles. However, just after 20 minutes, the water rose faster and faster… when it covered most of our living room, I immediately unhooked my computer (the one I am using now) and asked a neighbor to hide it temporarily on the second floor of their house (just to be safe). I placed my dogs at the top of my double deck bed because they were starting to be fidgety… the water rose higher, it reached up to my knee in record time… two electric fans and the TV were safe… our refrigerator was a bit caught but due to adrenaline rush, my dad and I were able to carry it outside… the water continued rising and it is by now at my upper arm level… I was panicking but I hid it and calmly asked my dad to help me bring all the dogs out cause the water was still rising (it was already up to my shoulders)… and out we all went slipperless and almost swimming.

Everyone was panicking… some were carrying their kids… some their dogs… some were to save anything they could… by that time, the house we stayed in for 18 years was immersed in water… all I was thinking that time was how I could bring all four of my dogs to safety because I knew at the back of my mind that everything was not over yet… I was a proud person but I begged a neighbor to let us stay at their terrace temporarily… my mom was frantically trying to contact us, I knew it was as hard for her as it was with me even though she was safe somewhere else… her child was in a dangerous position and all she can do was pray that I won’t be harmed. One of the rescuers came not long after (thank you!!), they took us (with the four dogs) to the municipal hall so that we can rest for a bit. I was thankful but I can’t help feeling helpless…  I just used to see these kinds of things on tv and now I’m one of the evacuees…

We stayed there for the whole night… cold marble floor… a gulp of water every now and then… we couldn’t get any sleep partly because we need to make sure the dogs won’t make any noise and partly because we weren’t sure of what might happen next… I knew my dogs were hungry… we haven’t eaten since that morning but the rations weren’t there yet… I’m proud of all four dogs because they didn’t make things hard for me and my dad… I whispered assurances that we’ll be fine and that food will be there soon and they cuddled close and slept more… I cried silently while my dad had his eyes closed… I was exhausted, hungry, scared and feeling pitiful… it was hard to fake a smile when even I know that we weren’t okay. When the rations came, my dad and I agreed to feed them to the dogs… both of us just took small sips of water… eating wasn’t any priority of mine at that time.

Seconds… minutes passed… time was painfully slow… I was wondering what had happened at our house… if my mom was worried for me… if we still have a house to return to… my heart was in a turmoil but my mind was unusually calm… we waited till morning came and asked to be escorted back home when I heard that the water had subsided. I know they wanted to help us but if I stayed longer at that place, I might just go crazy…

Our home was a mess… chairs were upturned… everything was soaked… miraculously, the cabinet with canned food wasn’t touched… the mirrors were intact… there were also some broken things of course but I won’t burden you guys by telling what they are… I hate being pitied…

Ah well… I’m charging what happened to experience and pray that it won’t happen again… I am still feeling the after effects of the flash flood… but at least I am alive and all four dogs are doing well… I still have a reason for being able to survive and that is something to look forward to…

I’m gonna be sharing some pictures of the after effects of the flood… I was able to take some after but not during the entire thing… it was too scary as it is… and this is it for my personal Ondoy experience… this is Yuki, still alive and blogging… till next time!

 our house had water and mud everywhere

 look how muddy