Ondoy, Part 2

Finally, I got to know my brother’s (AstroGurl) full kuwento about his Ondoy experience last weekend.  The following is his email to our dad, who’s in the US and who was at first very worried about our situation last weekend because he couldn’t get through our landline nor our cellphones.

Hi Pa!

We are all okay po. Wala pa rin kaming landline, pero, obviously may DSL connection po kami. Grabe talaga po nangyari dito. Pumasok pa ako nung Saturday. Nung pauwi na ako ng 11, hanggang tuhod na po yung tubig sa Espana. Nung malapit na po ako sa Concepcion market,nagpaikut-ikot yung jeep kaso, wala na talagang madaanan. Bagsak ulit kami sa Bayan po. Bumaba na ako ng jeep, thinking that I would be able to walk my way home. Kaso, hanggang hita na yung tubig! I went to Blue Wave mall, kaya lang sarado. Pinasok na rin ng tubig yung mga establishments po dun.

 
Umihi muna ako sa restroom sa labas ng Blue Wave (hindi ko na makita yung toilet, pero yung wall urinal okay pa). I was trying to contact mama kaya lang wala talaga. Nasira na yung payong ko. Naglakad na ako sa kahabaan ng Sumulong. Madaming taong naglalakad. Bawat intersection na madaanan namin, kapit-bisig po kami kasi ang lakas ng current. Matatangay ka talaga. Even me na mabigat na nahihirapan po talagang mamentain yung balance ko even if kapit-bisig na kami. Nasubabybayan ko yung pagtaas ng tubig. By the time na umabot na ako sa Roosevelt (may kasama po akong dalawang matanda, mom and son, akala ko nga bibigay na si lola eh. grabe) hanggang chest na po yung tubig. Nagpahinga po kami sandali (sayang, nabasa yung dala nilang Big Mac. hehe) Tapos lumusong ulit kami.

 
Ang plan namin is pumuntang diretsuhin yung Sumulong Hi-way up to Durawood, kaya lang sabi nila lagpas tao na raw yung tubig doon. So, dumaan na lang kaming Brgy. San Isidro and ayun, nag-stay po kami sa Brgy. Hall which served as an evacuation center. I arrived there at about 4 o’clock na po. Maswerte pa ako at nakontack ko pa si Mama. Sinabi pa niya “Bakit ka bumaba ng jeep?” Haha. Kung alam niya lang pinagdaanan ko taht time. Anyway, ayun. Wala na akong magagawa kaya hindi na ako nag-worry. Kaunti lang yung food, biskwit lang and kape. May water naman, pero hindi ako uminom kasi may water pa ako. Tumaas pa po yung water, hanggang ulo na. Tsk2.

 
Grabe talaga. Hindi ako masyadong nakatulog. I made new acquaintances sa evac center. Haha. Pagsapit ng alas-tres, sumuong na po ulit ako together with two HS students na taga-Rancho 1. Magkapatid po sila. Hanggang hita pa po yung water. Lubog mga kotse, may nakita pa akong lumulutang na ref sa isang bahay. Tapos, in the course of our adventure, nahulog pa ako sa manhole TWICE! Buti na lang, hindi nanghihigup yung manhole…kundi baka wala na po ako. Haha. Pagdating ko ng Rainbow street, may mga jeep na dumadaan. Sumakay na po kami. Hay, I felt relieved. Nilakad ko na lang from Panorama to our house kasi wala pong trike.

I took a bath right away. I felt so exhausted. And I cried kasi may mga namatay po. Hayayay. i slept at about 5.30 ng madaling araw. Ayun, tapos ang kwento! I’m glad to be alive. Actually, walang sinabi yung sinapit ko sa mga nawalan ng bahay and even worse, buhay. I’m thankful to the Lord, of course. Ngayon, back to normal na ulit. Wala po kaming pasok this whole week. So ayun, wag na po kayo mag-worry because we’re all okay.

Ondoy. Grabe ka.

September 26-27 – I was supposed to go on a Pangasinan trip with 4 other Rushers -Czarovic, Benjai Bonita, Merski & Gab. However, due to typhoon Ondoy, we decided to cancel our trip.

After the Rushers’ EB, we braved the rain and went to Megamall. I hitched a ride with Specialist Joe, along with his niece Coleen, and fellow Rushers Dru and Mojacko. The parking lot of Megamall was also flooded! Grabe ganun katindi ang ulan.

We had lunch and Specialist, Coleen and I had a fun ice cream experience at Amici. I will upload the pictures some other time, as the spotlight now is on Ondoy. Damn him. Sumunod sina Wandering Eneri, Benjai & Czarovic. My suitor, William of Radio One told me that he will fetch me despite the rain, the floods, and the traffic so I watched Kimmy Dora with some Rushers muna. Hindi pa nagsisimula ung movie when William called up, saying he needed to go back home because binabaha na ang bahay nila. Nanlumo ako, of course.

While watching, my mom also kept texting me na mag-stay na lang ako sa Megamall, RX or makituloy sa isang friend’s house because Marikina cannot be reached anymore. My brother was stranded for 4 hours in Concepcion, which, during a regular day, eh wala pang 30 minnutes, dapat nasa bahay na kami from Concepcion. Later on, I learned that my brother spent the night at a barangay hall somewhere in Sumulong, near Roosevelt College. He then foolishly (although I understand that he wanted to go home since batt empty na siya pati si mama) waded through chest-deep water just to get home. He arrived, wet and stinky, at around 4am. He almost fell into a manhole twice!

Back to Megamall. After the movie, we met up with the rest of the Rushers who were still there. The North and East people, including myself decided to take the MRT to Cubao, because Czarovic’s sister was alone in Gateway – she had been stranded there since lunchtime. The Southerners stayed in the Ortigas Area, thanks to Mr. Perk’s office and then I heard that they were able to stay in a motel.

Pagdating sa MRT Ortigas, grabe stairs pa lang, pila na. I felt so tired, akala ko mga 8pm na, yun pala 6:30pm palang! We were able to enter the waiting station and the train itself, not by our feet, but by other people who were pushing us! Akala ko, mapuputol na ang left hand ko.

Finally, nasa Cubao na kami. Elen made ampon Eneri in her dorm for girls. I could have joined them, but I opted to go with Czarovic, his sister and Mojacko, since my mom knows Jobert and Mojacko more, plus I believe that there is strength in numbers. We had dinner first and then looked for a place to stay. We weren’t able to find one among the hotels in Cubao. Good thing that Mojacko had a second cousin along 20th Av, ayun, doon kami nakituloy.  Good thing they had a Nokia charger, compatible for my phone so I was able to text the other Rushers of our whereabouts. And of course I had to text my mom that I was safe. Kasi walang dial tone ang landline namin, buti na lang natanggap ni mama ang text ko bago siya namatayan ng phone.

Yesterday morning, we left 20th Av at around 10am. Before leaving, we were able to watch the news on ABSCBN. Nakakaiyak ung images and reports. I was also worried because I didn’t know where my siblings were. Un pala, my sister didn’t leave our house, so kaming dalawa lang ng brother ko ang inalala nila mama.

We decided to take the LRT until Katipunan and then probably walk na to Marikina, which we did nga. HERE is a video we made while walking. Natawa pa ako, ang nasabi ko pala was “Checking out” instead of “Signing off” hehe. Anyways, we walked from LRT Katipunan until Bayan Market in Marikina, which is a pretty long stretch. While walking, we took some pictures of the damage left by Ondoy. We even passed by Provident Village, one of the worst hit in Marikina.

From Bayan Market, buti nalang meron ng mga jeep papunta sa amin. I was already getting ready to walk hanggang house namin, kahit na sobrang sakit na ng paa ko, since I did not wear my wet socks anymore. It was a great relief to have ridden a jeep! Si Mojacko, humiwalay na sa amin since taga-Cogeo siya.

Home Sweet Home – at around lunchtime. Thank goodness, my family was safe, along with our house, since our place is actually higher than the other parts of Marikina so yung way papunta sa amin ang talagang apektado. Brownout nga lang. Mga 36 hours kaming walang kuryente.

Thank you to all the friends who were concerned, even those people na matagal ko nang di nakakatext o nakakausap. Nakakatouch kayo. Mwah, mwah!

Here are some of the pictures I took while making the alay lakad:

before leaving Cubao: Mojacko, Astroboy, Czarovic, May

 

 

 

Cars – overturned, abandoned, muddied, damaged, etc. along Barangka, Marikina

Garbage and dead rats were everywhere..

Search and rescue people, near Provident Village.

Provident Village, one of the worst hit in Marikina..

One of the many muddied and abandoned cars we saw..

The Marikina River.

I hope all of you who are reading this are safe. Let’s all hope na hindi na mangyari ang ganito.