Random Aesthetics

After coming out with the flu for 2 days I never expected to see the worst storm of my life. Nobody expected it especially in our area. I think it all started on a friday night. It never stopped raining and I remember telling myself that I could keep the A/C off the whole night because it was already cold. From what the other residents tell me, this particular part of Pasig has never had a flood this bad in decades.

When I woke up the following morning I saw that the street outside was flooded already. I paid no mind to it and sent an SMS to my Team Lead that I don’t want to wade in the floodwater just to get to the office. He gave me the go signal and joked about how flooded it was on their end as well. I told him that if it went down early I would go for half-day. This was around 7AM, Saturday.

However it didn’t.

By 11AM, the waters have reached my driveway. I saw people wading through the waters and I told myself that it wouldn’t even reach my newly mopped floor.

By 1PM the waters have entered my newly cleaned home. I didn’t know if I was going to panic or if I was going to get angry. An officemate of mine knocked at the door and was asking for food. He was shaking like hell from the cold. I let him in and asked for news about the outside world.

It was horrible he says… He was cold and hungry. I gave him food and dry clothing while he told me all about it. That was when the lights went out.

4PM. It was getting dark and I needed to make a way to make some food and get some illumination for the evening. It will be a cold and hungry night if I didn’t act soon. I checked my cellphone. All the messages I tried to send out have failed. I wished I hadn’t been playing music as I didn’t expect the lights to go out. 3 Bars on the N73. 2 Bars on the 6300. This is gonna suck big time. I was worried sick about the people who were worried. I had previously been sending out messages about my amusement at people swimming to get out of the village. When Globe went down, I started thinking that jokes like that weren’t funny on the receiving end. I had to find food now. It was getting dark.

I asked Nhan to accompany me in a little quest for food and fresh water. We had to buy an LPG tank for the twin burner I had bought previously. I thanked God I was impulsive that day I got sick. The water was very cold as I stepped in to the murky waters. I was trying to remember every pot hole on the street. When we reched the street outside the guard house the water reached my chest.

It was deeper than what I expected. I was a little tall and was proud of it but it still reached my ribs. I looked behind me and saw Nhan struggling against the current. I told him to hold on to my Jersey as I took point for safety purposes.

The water by the exit of the village was a little higher and we took to the sidewalk for higher ground. I was lucky to have my beach shoes so I didn’t think about losing my slippers by snagging them in something I didn’t want to look at. I couldn’t even believe that I was doing this. But I had to.

We avoided the main street along magsaysay because the current was just too strong. No amount of bracing could keep you on your feet so we had to go through the little streets. I saw the corner near the Baranggay Hall and told Nhan that we are close to the Gasul store.

As I stepped forward everything turned black. My foot fell in a huge hole and I found myself sitting down by its edge underneath the water. It was sucking my leg in. If my other leg weren’t free I’d probably be swimming with the fishies. I pulled myself up and gasped for air. The first thing I complained about was that my money got wet. I was glad I didn’t bring my cellphone. Nhan laughed at me because I disappeared in an instant. People helped me put a marker for the hole. Both knees and my left leg were badly scraped. It stung underneath the floodwater.

Eventually, we got to the nearby bakery and Gasul store. I bought a whole tank with a regulator and hose. I only had 4k with me… and it brought me down to 1.8k. So much for extra food and water, I thought… but it was going to be enough for about three square meals for three days at least. I could boil some water with a flame in my kitchen so I guess it was a good move.

We dragged it back to the house and I tended to my wounds with soap and alcohol. After setting it up I cooked Neil’s Lumpiang Shanghai that he asked me to take home. I’ll tell him that I cooked his food when I get back to the office.

The waters steadily rose and reached the second step of my stairs. I could only imagine how high it was outside if it reached up to that point at home. Checked my phones again. Still no signal. I was bored to death. The puppies were moved to the vacant room on the second floor and soon, the two bigger ones followed. It was going to be a long weekend.

The following morning, the waters still haven’t receded. I heard the guards talking about casualties here and there. Still no water and electricity. My phones died last night as I forgot to turn them off. Nhan took off and he said that he needed to go and try to contact his family. I was worried sick for my loved ones and friends. I walked (more like I swam) around the streets trying to look for more food. The place was a mess.

Cars were badly damaged here and there. Establishments were barely open. People were everywhere looking for food and water too. I went to the drugstore and bought me some betadine and antibiotics. Some biogesic too just in case I get a fever. I couldn’t afford to get sick then. At least it stopped raining for now. Maybe the waters will go down a bit. The current wasn’t as strong as yesterday afternoon. Some people were looting the soda truck that got stranded in the middle of the road.

I walked towards Gate-5 toward the main highway. Cars were still stuck there. People were on the footbridge. I was thankful that I had a dry place to sleep in last night and I had food and water. I didn’t know how long the floods will last so I thought of stocking up on some canned goods and bottled water. First aid would come in handy too.

I saw a lot of familiar faces that sunday. Classmates from high school. Former officemates. They were either stranded or busy cleaning up whatever they could. I was going to try my luck at the charging station at mini-stop. Too bad it was closed. Judging by the markings the mud left, the waters were pretty high here. A lot of people were doing an alay-lakad to wherever. I wouldn’t risk going to the office. Not in this condition. I was worried about an officemate that tried to contact me the day before. I worried about my friends. I was more worried about them than myself.

The whole day dragged on and the waters steadily receded. I spent the whole afternoon cleaning and drying out the electronics that were water damaged. My doors have swelled from the water and I could barely close them. The following morning, it left the driveway leaving mud on its wake.

Monday was a good day. Even though we still didn’t have any water nor electricity, it was still a sign that everything was going to be alright. Cyrene, that officemate I was worried about knocked on my door asking if all was well. She showed me pictures of her house and it reached her roof. She asked if she could bring her kid to my home while she cleaned up their house. I told her I didn’t mind.

When she left one of the neighbors offered his car battery to charge my phones. I was able to charge a bit and the signal came up. A wave of relief passed over me now that I know that most of the people I worried about were okay. Mom was in eastwood looking for me though. Someone called me up and told me so I asked Nhan to accompany me to eastwood to go pick her up and charge our cellphones along the way.

Nhan came back and I told him that I needed to go to eastwood to buy a better mop and I needed to have my cellphones charged.

The rest was history. I guess I survived with minimal damage to property and health. And I just moved in three weeks ago.

That’s what happened to me… what’s yours?