A giant problem named Ondoy

I know I’m supposed to post this year yesterday but the clean-up after the Ondoy typhoon took time and a most of my strength to accomplish that I hardly want to do anything (even think) afterwards.

It was a gloomy and gold Saturday. When I woke up, I knew rain was coming from the dark skies. So I, my dad and sister prepared ourselves for it. We took all laundry in, covered our dog’s cage so she would not get wet, we prepared candles and flashlights for the possibility of blackout, etc. We take pride for being prepared for such things. But of course, you can’t be prepared for everything.

As I was focused on my laptop working on a project, my sister called my attention to an almost knee-length height of rainwater collecting outside our doorstep. I was shocked when I saw our boarders’ rooms filled with water that we hurriedly pulled our their stuff (good thing their stuff were intact within giant tupperware-like containers) into our living room. Later on, I noticed water trickling from the back of our house. Prepared for a worse scenario, I instructed my dad and sister to bring anything on the ground to a higher level. I even detached the CPU and brought it up to our second floor bedroom to avoid any complications.

I found my dog getting wet as the water reached her cage floor. I took her out and noted her shivering that I hurriedly wiped her dry. I took her upstairs to our bedroom where it was warmer and left her there while we dealt with the water that has covered our entire ground floor.

While waiting for the rain to stop, I took my camera out and took some pictures of scenarios.

Ondoy from my window. It was really dark. See the rain pouring from the neighbor's roof.

This is an overview of the garden that can be viewed from the terrace.

Rainwater transforming the garden into a mini - pool. Wow.

Our pet Lia getting wet from the rain. I'm wiping her dry. Awww... poor doggie...

This is rainwater flooding inside our house. Oh boy...

Good thing the water only reached feet level. The rain later stopped (at least 2 hours since water flooded the house interior) and the water quickly subsided. Thus started the task of us cleaning, scrubbing, taking the water out from rooms, drying, etc. Added to that is to take all things down to their usual place. I was so tired yesterday I didn’t have the time nor strength to post anymore. My shoulder is still currently aching from the labor. :(

Now, as everything is put into order again, I stumbled upon various videos related to Ondoy.

I couldn’t believe the tragedy Ondoy made and just how many live and properties were lost. Truly, this is another wake up call. It could be for better sewers, for better clean up for the environment, for global warming, for proper disposal of trash, etc. There are many many reasons why these incidents happen… but are we even taking note of these?

No, you bet we don’t.

So where are our minds?