THE TYPHOON THAT WAS ONDOY

Photo reposted from this site

We're supposed to have a family meeting early today at Bonifacio High Street, Taguig. My sister and I left our house early considering it is a weekend - there's traffic and it is raining hard. Little did we know that the pouring rain would eventually stop us from reaching our destination.

The flood started to rise in Elliptical Road while we're passing by. We had to take a turn at Kalayaan Avenue (we'll leave our car and ride on our brother's SUV because of the flood that we might encounter) only to be told by the bystanders that it is already unpassable to light vehicles. Our car took another round at the Elliptical to take a turn at East Avenue. By then, dad called us and asked us to come home as the meeting was cancelled already.

My sister and I were praying hard and out loud as we passed high floodwaters along Commonwealth Avenue. We were checking the flooring if the flood has seeped in the car already. It felt like we were riding a boat. We tried every possible route to be able to reach home but all were flooded already. Luckily, we found high ground where we could park. There’s a secluded restaurant there also – a big relief for us who haven’t eaten breakfast and lunch yet.

It was also a good thing that there's electricity in that area. The restaurant have their television on so we're able to watch the news. We also have our Globe Tattoo with us so we're able to read and share updates online. My dad was so funny, he's call us to tell us to save our phones' battery charge, but would repeat every so often that we had to remind him that "we're trying to save battery dad".

It took us more than 10 hours to reach home. Our parents were relieved to finally see us. My partner is still stranded in Cainta, Rizal as of this writing but is in a safe place now home. My son hugged me tight and said, “Nag-aalala na ako sa’yo mommy!” (“I am so worried about you mommy!”) Being home never felt this safe.

Edited on September 28, 2009