The Storms

My brother commented to me and my sister via text message about the storm.  He said it reminded him of the 70s.  He meant a time when there were strong storms one after the other and school was out for at least a week.  We all remember a time when flood waters got into our house in the rolling hills of Quezon City, when we had to move some of our stuff from the first floor to the second level of the house.

I also remember exactly two years ago when storm Ondoy visited.  On the 26th of September 2009, I woke up to unrelenting rain that began the day before.  I remember a plea from my fellow teacher who asked me to rush to school because flood waters are rising and the students' experiments have to be saved.  I got dressed but when I tried going into the street, I found that the water was actually going up our driveway.  The streets were flooded to the thigh.

I remember going to school on Monday, the first in our department.  When I entered the lab, an eerie sight met my eyes.  The two refrigerators we use to hold experiments and food were lying on the floor like a pair of coffins side by side.  Chairs and papers were everywhere.  I opened one of the cabinets and found flasks full of flood water.  It took a week to get all of the glassware and equipment cleaned.

Storm Pedring is passing by.  Its winds are stronger than Ondoy's but until today it unleashed a lot less water.  PagASA said this is a well behaved storm following a consistent path.  Right now, it's pouring hard outside my room.  It's supposed to be on its way out.  Heck, it's supposed to be over the ocean already.

It sounds like the wind is whipping the heavy rain into a frenzy.  This should all be gone in the morning.  I pray.

After the Storm

A lot of things have been happening lately that I felt it was time to write again. Besides, I do have thoughts so why not share them.

Ondoy left a decidedly indelible mark to us, particularly in mega Manila. Its fury was unexpected. Its wrath was unparalleled. Its devastation was complete.

Actually, it was a weak storm. Its winds were high and hurtled themselves about at the lower end of the range of what would be considered a typhoon. What it delivered to the earth was water, tons of it. The weather bureau said there was enough rainfall to last us a normal September.


It would not have been so bad I suppose, if it was only rainwater that we encountered. What made it worse was the mud that flowed with it. Rivers overflowed lifting their silt and tossing it about like it was whipping cream. The result was mud pushed by the water through cracks and crevices allowing it to go where it was not supposed to.