Flood

I woke up early this Saturday morning, because I had an exam at Eng’g in the afternoon. It was raining outside, so I had to endure the cold while taking a shower. After getting dressed, I made my way to Yakal, had to prepare for my exam. The jeepney ride was quite interesting…I forgot to pay my fare and I realized it only after I got off already.

Now, I waited outside their dorm, because visitors were not yet allowed inside (even in the lobby…talk about wonderful accommodation and hospitality), and needless to say, it was blisteringly cold outside. But I kept my cool, and waited for my classmates to finish preparing. While waiting, Mon suddenly shouted in panic, “Bumabaha na sa lobby! Pumapasok na sa West Wing 1!” (It’s flooding already! The water’s seeping into West Wing 1!). I didn’t react just yet, well I didn’t think it was much of a big deal, and actually found it pretty amusing. But then we saw the water wasn’t stopping from swamping the lobby, and it was going towards PeT (Public e-Terminal, our common-use computer), so I acted upon instinct, got inside, and pushed PeT away from the water. It wasn’t going to end there, we realized. We had to put PeT and all the other appliances and other stuff to higher ground, so we scrambled to put them on tables and chairs. Then we saw that East Wing 1 was starting to get flooded, so Mon and JP woke everyone up on the first floor to save their things and get out. It was a funny sight actually—until the freshies in EW1 found out that the toilets were overflowing, and the water was flooding up their corridor really fast. Now I’m pretty sure these freshmen would be scarred for life with their experience with this storm. I mean, unidentified floating thingies in ankle-deep icky water flooding your rooms and corridor are not wonderful things to remember when you look back at your first dormitory experience in college.

Turns out, the rains wouldn’t stop for quite a while, and caused a water-world scene all over Yakal’s first floor. Sleeping at EW1 would be impossible, as the water reeked of waste water, and nobody was sure if the water level would rise higher. The street fronting Yakal and behind Eng’g was flooded up to above the knees as well, and from 10-12 it was virtually impassible. A truck even got stuck in the flood waters for a long while. Well, surprise surprise, our exam was cancelled. (I wouldn’t wade into almost-waist-deep water just to take that test…yech) I was stranded at Yakal for a while, but it was fun. I don’t complain about that, except the fact that my feet were disgustingly wet for the entire time.

The tropical depression “Ondoy” wreaked havoc and severe flooding all over Metro Manila. Marikina River swelled beyond its limit, and people were left stranded on the roofs of their houses. Philcoa and Katipunan had beyond than heavy traffic, cars were stuck for hours and pedestrians had to wade in waist-deep water just to get to their destinations. Basically, the people in UP had nowhere to go because all the thoroughfares out of the campus were just plainly flooded. Flooding would be a given for places like España, Navotas, Malabon and U-belt. But thousands were stranded even more when the MRT shut down. The National Disaster Coordination Council was caught unawares, and couldn’t act as quick and as efficient as possible because of the huge area of effect of the typhoon’s wrath.

I guess the Yakalites are still luckier than most, don’t ya think?