My Experience of Ondoy

By Jane Cacho

Yesterday, you all had the chance to share your experiences over the Ondoy weekend. This morning, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you my story and my insights about my experience.


Last Saturday morning, I awoke to the pleasant sound of rain pouring on the roof. And since my family and I are avid fans of rain, we decided to romp around the subdivision with our dogs. We also brought along a long wooden stick to clear the drainages so that water wouldn’t clog. And while we were at it, I remember telling my son, “This is how you help the neighborhood.”


When we went to some farther streets, we were surprised to find knee-high flood waters and some residents frantically clearing the drainages to no avail. My husband and I could only think, “Poor them! We’re lucky we don’t live in this part of the subdivision.” Everyone was already astounded at the flooding because that has never happened that bad before. We also peered over or subdivision wall and saw some squatters already evacuating their shanties with chest deep waters. Again I thought, “Poor them! At least I live on a higher place than they do…”


At around 10:30 am, the rain had not ceased and residents were constantly monitoring the river. Note that we were just one small vacant lot away from the then already raging water. But while we were worried, we just thought, “We better stock up on water in case we’re stuck at home without electricity. But at least we’re warm and safe.” That proved to be a major understatement.


A few minutes later, some of the carpenters working on our house shouted, “Lumulutang na po ang kotse ng kapatid niyo!” That’s when it started to dawn on me that this may be something bigger. The carpenters hurried guided and pushed to floating car to a higher place and my husband drove our van outside to an even higher road. He drove off with the water to his knees.


At this time, I was not panicking but because the situation was alarming, it seems that my mind just went blank. All I could think of was I hope the river stays behind the wall, but a few seconds later, the water breached the wall and that perimeter water looked like a long waterfalls with water gushing in. In a few minutes, water was knee deep inside our house and all I could do was to retrieve our passport and some money stashed in a drawer. Our household help was frantically gathering all available food within reach and bringing them to the second floor. We carried electric fans and books up. The school bags of the kids were brought up. We wanted to bring the refrigerator up but when it floated and fell, we decided to leave it where it was. Water was rising very fast.


On the second floor, I was like in a not obvious trance. While I was moving and talking, my mind was busy trying to comprehend what had just happened. Again, I thought to myself, “At least we have a second floor, we have some food and water, too. We’ll be okay for the night.”


During this time, my husband had returned to the house and it was chest deep outside. Because he could not get in through the front door anymore, he came in through the kitchen where the space between the ceiling and the water was barely a foot. He had to swim and dive down the murky water to find the stairs going up to the second floor. He then said that the situation outside was very bad.


We couldn’t do anything by stare at the rising water always thinking, “No it wouldn’t reach this high – and when it did, oh it would stop there, but it didn’t.” When the water entered the second floor, I whispered to my husband that he has to prepare the roof already for the remote possibility of us going to the roof. He and the workers brought up the food we gathered some plastic chairs and tarps. Again, I was still in denial mode thinking that I was just being very cautious in having the place prepared.


All this time, we still had a PLDT phone line and we were taking turns calling up friends who had floatation devices and who could help. Everyone we talked to wanted to help but was helpless to. But we didn’t give up. We continued texting and phoning people.


Just then, a crying 11 year old neighbor appeared out of nowhere into our room. Apparently, their first floor was submerged like our and his mom was not around. Tailing him were a very wet teenage cousin and an uncle who just suffered a stroke. They crossed a makeshift ramp to transfer from their terrace to ours.


My two kids were on the bed already, a little scared but excited, too. We were mentally preparing them and saying things like, “Mountaineers need to be brave and strong. We might have to go to the roof but don’t worry, just follow directions.” We had them were layers of clothing because it was raining hard. Maximus had on two right shoes (a right football shoe with studs and his sisters right rubber shoe).


When the water still kept rising, I decided to move to the roof. Note that this was a deck under construction so the ladder was rickety and makeshift and definitely not for children and senior citizens. But I was afraid the raging river would sweep us out from the house and we wouldn’t have time to scramble up.


And so we were on the roof, 2 senior citizens, 3 kids, 1 semi-paralyzed man, my husband and I and 2 dogs. The carpenters took shelter under us but they were balancing themselves on a scaffold only.


On the roof, we continued getting texts of concern and a friend was able to patch us up to ANC and that’s where some of you heard me over the TV. We were praying decades and decades of the rosary, offering each decade that the rain would stop pounding, that our rescuers be kept safe and that everyone in the same situation will be kept safe.


Because the deck was still under construction, it did not have walls on all sides. Our next worry was that if the water reaches us, we’ll be sure to be swept off to our deaths. So my husband gathered empty plastic bottles and made makeshift floaters. He’s a lifeguard and taught us what to do in case the river still rises.


At that point, all I could think of was, “Lord, is this the end? Is this how you planned for me and my family to go? That we’ll die young and our children younger? That we’ll perish as a family?” The thought of death was not as scary as I thought, but I was numb at that point. I was wishing silently that if we had to die that my children wouldn’t suffer too much.


We stayed there for eight hours, consoled by mooncake and biscuits. Toilet was a corner on the deck where you just had to face the opposite direction.


At around 4 pm, someone texted that it was low tide for the next 6 hours and this brought so much hope to us. We also got news that there were UP Mountaineers with a raft at the gate already. However, it turns out the current was too strong and our rescuers were swept by the current and they had to be rescued, too.


My next worry was the impending darkness. I was afraid that if it becomes pitch black, we wouldn’t be able to see the edge of the deck and that we might fall down. Fortunately, the sky while cloudless and starless remained rosy and there was a soft glow which allowed for visibility. Every time we’d see lights flashing, we’d bang the pot we brought up hoping for attention.


Finally, at around 10 p.m., the army came to rescue us in rubber boats. But because the water was still very high and swift on our street, we had to cross roofs of neighbors just to get to manageable waters.


That night, faces of friends waiting brought such relief and a deep feeling of security.


We stayed overnight with people who I met only for the first time.


In the next few days, waves of people came to help clean the house – among them some UP Mountaineers, the UP Ladies Football Team and XS Faculty and Staff. I could not help but marvel at the generosity of these people!!!


Insights:


- You can’t prepare for everything, so the question is, “What do you do when you are not prepared?” Do you give up? Or do you fight it out? God works through others, but also many times, He works through us - ourselves. I definitely think adrenaline rush is one of His gifts to allow us to do superhuman tasks in adverse situations. We need to trust our instincts, rely on our wisdom and experience to make the best decisions given what are available.


- There are many things we will never understand. But my belief is that we are somewhere always for a reason. During the time we were on the roof, I could not help but think that maybe I was there for my neighbor who could not have survived if we were not at home. And one thing I confirmed was that the moment you start thinking of others before yourself, you gain strength and you get a purpose. Also many blessings do come in disguise, it’s just up to us to discover and recognize them.


- There are many many good people out there (unsung heroes). Included here are the students who came to the MPC to help, the faculty and staff who helped clean houses, distribute goods etc., students who helped in parishes and other venues. I would like to specially mention Retty Contreras of the School of the Holy Spirit who came to the house five days in a row to help the clean up and whose house is currently serving as storehouse of our saved still slightly wet pictures. My college batchmates who chipped in to buy me a washing machine to help wash the tons of muddy clothes and linen we have. My aunt and cousins who have shown limitless generosity and are still housing us. My uncle who seemed to know exactly what we needed and came to lend us a pressure washer and generator - among other things.


- Simplify your life, your wants and your needs. When we were thinking about what to bring on the roof, it ever occurred to us to bring up the PSPs and Gameboys. We had to decide based on survival needs and I guess we need to exercise this kind of weeding every so often so that there wouldn’t be too much clutter in our lives. Let’s prioritize the truly important and valuable.


- Lets us learn from the experience. The momentous flooding was not the fault of just one person or agency. I do not think it was a punishment from God, but I believe it was, in part, a result of all the little careless acts of neglect we did to the environment. So all of us are party to the crime. The question is, “What do we do now?” Let’s start to be good to the environment. Let’s love our neighbor. Let’s not take our loved ones for granted.


Let me end by sharing two conversations I had recently.


The first was an email of a friend from General Santos City who apologetically said that while they packed relief goods, it was an insignificant effort compared to the gravity of the situation and the needs of the times. Let me state now that in moments of crisis, no kind of help can be considered insignificant. Whether the show of help was simply a text or a heartfelt prayer, it helps a lot. We were strengthened and inspired by the thought that so many people were praying for us, worrying about us, frantically coming up with ways on how to help us. All these helped – they were our lifesavers that kept us afloat in the gloom of reality.


The second conversation was with an alumnus who upon hearing how I was raving about the kind hearts of people said that he is irritated at hearing that. He is actually more frustrated because he wonders why it is only when there is a calamity that the kindness, bravery and generosity of people come out. And when things are back to normal, we also go back to our bad old habits. He added that if I want to make a difference, I’ve got to break the cycle. And it dawned on me that my work in Xavier School is actually an effort to break the cycle because we want to form young men who are good, righteous and generous with or without a calamity. If we educators are successful in forming a generation of responsible adults who love each other and the environment, then we would have helped break the vicious cycle.


And so my challenge to you Xaverians is this: Don’t wait for a calamity to let your light shine, to show your brave side, your generous nature, and your helpfulness! Show these everyday. What is actually more difficult is to show these consistently but that is what we are called to do.


Luceat Lux!
(shared to us by Ma Cielito 'Baby' Valdes-Lejano dated 7 October 2009)