Water, Water Everywhere

Early evening yesterday, while I was notating a song (in my computer), it suddenly rained cats and dogs. I thought it was just a passing monsoon rain; one that pours hard and then immediately halts. But I was wrong, the rains came hard and remained so for more than an hour. I remembered there was a news item early in the morning that there was an incoming storm. But there was no warning that it will bring in much rain. I was concerned and dreaded that it would flood.

I was right. Within 40 minutes, the flood. The minute cracks on the floor started to moisten then bled slowly. I peeped through the jalousie window and as I suspected, the surrounding yard had already filled with rainwater. The earlier rush of flowing street water had turned into a silent pond. That meant all low-lying streets in town are under water. In some areas, it would be knee-deep and in the middle of the town, waist-deep. Fortunately we live farther away from the town basin-the lowest part of Taytay.

We rushed to elevate furniture and appliances. The leather sofas had to be put on top of steel dining chairs, my CPU had to be dismantled because its slot is in the lowest portion of my computer table, wooden filing cabinets had to be carried to the higher level of the house, and to my dismay, an hour later, the refrigerator had to be elevated too, otherwise I can say goodbye to it. It has already been standing atop a wooden platform 20 cm. high. We inserted eight of my barbell and dumbbell plates beneath the platform so to save the ref (that's "fridge" to westerners).

But Filipinos as we are, we are a jolly bunch. We make do of what we have, always. We continue with our lives no matter what. After salvaging our few precious belongings, we shared our supper amidst the water. Anyway the "pool" inside the house is crystal clear (and it remains that way for some good 8-10 hours), so it's somewhat fun to experience. We stood about our round glass table (the dining chairs are occupied by the sofas remember?) and joked around as we enjoyed dinner.

I remembered about twenty years ago, we never experienced floods in our house. But as development slowly crept in our town and in adjacent cities, as subdivisions sprouted everywhere, as establishments mushroomed all over town, we began experiencing these deluges. Each year, the flood level rose anew. If there is any good to it, the level stopped to 33 cm. inside the house for about four years now. But on the streets, it's much deeper.

We have considered ourselves lucky because in the nearby town, some subdivisions experience 5 ft-deep floods. They go around in bancas (make-shift boats) to go to work or school. There is a city about 20 kms. north of Manila whose flood never goes away all year round. I wonder how they could manage to continue living there. At the rate things are going, I could almost imagine the far worst condition of things around here in say, 20 years. Well, God is with us.