I Survived Typhoon Ondoy

As the saying goes, truly a picture is worth a thousand words. It refers to the idea that complex stories can be described with just a single still picture. Point in case is the picture above.

You probably had already seen this from one of the attached pictures you had received from your e-mails. The catastrophic aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy "flooded" (no pun intended) the cyberworld with digital affirmation of its wrath as it passes through Metro Manila that fateful and unsuspectful morning of September 26.

This picture made me realized how fragile life can be. In a second you can be dead electrocuted from those dangling wires or be swept away by those strong currents. Its so frightening when the thought hit me. How will I decide if I am challenge with the same predicament?

Fairly enough, I had experienced a few disasters of lesser magnitude.

I had walked from the university belt all the way to Sampaloc district of Manila where I reside, right after the July 16, 1990, 7.8 Luzon earthquake. There was panic and stampede everywhere.

I had walked flooded streets of Manila countless times and also was stranded on a bus for the longest time because of it. Or when I was flabbergasted by the ash fall brought about by the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo when it awakened in 1991.

But, what if I am trapped in this kind of a situation. The water is neck-deep and with a strong current. I cannot be criss-crossing my feet over those electric wires. Look at that man in a black shirt, parang action superstar ang porma / he looks like an action superstar. I don't have the guts to do that. However, we really can not anticipate and underestimate the power and control when adrenalin overpowers us in cases like this. So the possibility is still there. LOLZ.

On the other hand, I can't swim either. I can not be walking in that street with a neck-deep high water. Because it would feel, for me, that anytime I will be sinking or be swept away by the strong current.

I guess the best decision for me in this kind of a situation is to just stay-put in a safer and higher grounds and just be a mere spectator of those people passing by. Look at those men in front of the PhilHealth branch office, mga uzis.LOLZ.

Thank God I survived the wrath of Typhoon Ondoy. Eventhough I was not there to experience it first hand, I could feel the worries and pain our kababayans had went through. My deepest symphaties and with much prayers goes to the victims of Ondoy a.k.a Ketsana, who as of this writing is pouring much rain in Vietnam and Cambodia.

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