Power in our area has not been restored as I compose this column (for Manila Standard Today). I am seated at the Areva Pavilion of the MMLDC compound along Sumulong Highway in Antipolo, availing of the free WiFi internet service. Good thing that plugging in the laptop is allowed. I get to recharge the MacBook Pro’s battery too.
I could use this space whining and bitching about how slow Meralco has been in restoring power in our area but that’s something I have already subjected their customer service representatives to several times a day for the past couple of days. Suffice to say that I’ve heard it all. On Saturday evening, I was told that power was intentionally cut off because of the flooding. On Sunday morning, I was assured that a crew was already on its way. On Monday morning, the admission, finally, that the Rizal Center was swamped and unable to manage all the complaints. After all these decades of monopolizing the power distribution in this country, Meralco is still ill-equipped to handle emergencies.
(Above, Sam’s message to Meralco. No photos in newspaper’s op-ed column but I’m free to post it here.)
Through the dark nights and waterless days, one thing and one thing only kept from bitching – we had it good compared to what a lot of other people went through. Even during the heaviest downpour, we remained untouched by floods. We suffered no injury nor illness nor property damage. And we live in Antipolo, one of the areas hardest hit by typhoon Ondoy.
My tone would probably be different if one or more members of my family had gotten stranded somewhere. It was all I could think of – how fortunate it was that my daughter who stays in a dorm during weekdays was already home on Friday evening. By the time the strong winds and heavy rains lashed out at their worst, we were all safely inside our house.
An aunt-in-law had to evacuate from her house in Pasig. In time, fortunately, because the water rose so high that only the roof was visible. She had to leave behind all her possessions — a lifetime of memories.
Some friends and neighbors had their own stories to tell. Our next-door neighbor got caught in Marcos Highway on Saturday where the water was neck-deep. He walked home most of the way, in the company of strangers (they were able to hitch a ride on a truck farther on). They walked in a single file, each holding tight to a rope to avoid getting carried off by the water. But even the rope did not mean complete safety. This neighbor saw five women who had been unable to hold on float away and he never found out what happened to them. He saw vehicles float in the water, bumping each other, and one was floating vertically with only its tail end visible.
But this neighbor was still lucky because he was able to get home. Except for his filthy clothes, he was unscathed. His wife who braved the rains on Saturday morning to go to the supermarket less than a kilometer away got caught in floods along Circumferential Road at the town’s center. Her car couldn’t pass anywhere, she left it on a sidewalk that was not submerged in water and walked home, leaving the groceries behind in the car’s trunk and carrying only a pack of much needed batteries and a bunch of suman that she ate while wading through the murky flood waters. It took her six hours to get home.
Still, compared to the truly harrowing experience of other people, our neighbors were lucky too. They managed to get home safe and sound. From accounts we heard over the radio, this typhoon left too many victims in its wake – dead people, homeless people, people with missing children… When Speedy checked the conditions in town on Sunday morning, he bumped into a friend who is a member of a volunteer rescue team in our area. His story – too many floating bodies of children during the previous night.
Speedy said he heard over the radio that PAG-ASA’s assessment is that Ondoy is the worst typhoon to hit the country since Yoling in 1970. I was too young to remember much about Yoling but I’m old enough today to know that I will remember Ondoy for the rest of my life.
That is also what we ourselves are doing, Connie… while looking at the aftermath of this hellish typhoon Ondoy, we are uttering prayers of thanksgiving because all we got to suffer or endure was the inconvenience of a long brown out… we were all safe, no properties damaged, and the hubby just had the "adventure" of running home from Atrium in Makati all the way to Cubao… impassable kasi raw ang C5 that time…and he reached our home muddy, wet but safe at 7pm!
Yung twin brother niya who lives with his 5 kids in Marikina was the one whom we consider to be a flood victim sa family namin…The flood reached them almost to the level of their attic… but they are safe now, thank God.
Maliliit lang na inconveniences itong mga sacrifices natin ng what was lost like water or electric supply— and yes, you are right… we have to be thankful for what we have and coming out of this experience alive and whole unlike some others who lost life and all.
We were also thankful that we only had 21-hr brownout and huusband was home finally after 17-hr trip from Batangas on Sat evening. Don't want to watch tv na nga kasi naiiyak ako palagi. Indeed, GOD is GOOD!!!
i can never forget yoling! it blew off the entire roof of my parents' house in qc. we had to evacuate to a relative's house. feeling refugee ako nun but we were only too happy to be safe.
Mallotte! Kamusta kayo? I couldn't text anyone when Smart's signal went pffft! I heard that the houses near the bridge going to your place were badly damaged.
hi ms. connie, i frequent your blog so with the your food blog. I'm so thankful that nothing happened to my immediate family too. Only that, a close friend of mine who lives in cainta eh, na-stuck na sila sa 2nd floor, luckily may 2nd floor sila kasi nakisukob sa kanya lahat ng kapitbahay niya (sa street nila) kasi yun house lang nila ang may 2nd floor. The rest are bungalow type kaya ianot din ng baha halos rooftop na lang.
Extend my regards to sir nap 
and thank God you are all safe too.
@ms. crisma, your comment caught my attention kasi when i asked my sister where she was, she was in atrium that time also. Was able to go home thru the company's car service but my previous boss according to her eh naglakad and nagjogging from atrium all the way to his house
Hi Ms Peachy,
and he said, parang 15 km raw yata yung distance na yun…thank God talaga for blessing us with all these. Good to know you too thru this! 
Hmmm, small world lang nga talaga! … tama ka, si Nap nga ang husband ko! Runner talaga kasi sya… and he said, this may be one of the occasions na pwede nyang ma-test yung kanyang physical preparedness.
hi connie, glad you & your family are safe. our house was flooded, our appliances at the first floor were soaking wet, our car was submerge in waist high waters, but we are stiil thankful because that we were safe. Minor inconveniences na lang yung brownout. Kakalungkot lang the situation of our other countrymen who suffered greatly because of this typhoon.
I am glad that only one of my sister was affected by the typhoon. Her house was submerged by water, two are fine, and my mom in the province was not affected at all. Good to know that your kids are safe.:))
Thank you, all. And I hope you're all in a fighting spirit too that we can rise up from this experience. We went around Antipolo today and it was a nerve wracking experience. Too much damage.
Connie: hope you get your electricity back soon. Selfishly, that would give us readers more of your blogging on the flooding aftermath. My family is scattered around Metro Manila. Luckily, no-one got much affected. Only my mother who lives in Sta Mesa had some water enter the ground floor of the house, but the water was gone the next morning. The photos from Manila are truly terrible. Looking forward to your pics once you get the power back. It's good to see you haven't stopped cooking!
We're home and power is back. Can't say things are normal though. Will post a new entry in a bit.
Glad you were able to survive the storm. There are lots of sad stories about the impact of the typhoon in our lives.
I count my family as one of those lucky and was able to survive the onslaught (pardon the spelling) of this terrible tragedy. We did not have any electricity for one day and 8 hours. Streets were flooded all over the metro, score of people trapped inside malls, etc. I was stressed out because I don't know when some semblance of normalcy would come back. We went to a supermarket and everyone was on hoarding mode (imagine three boxfull of food as if supplies would run short) and the most insensitive of them all, karaoke singing at 12 midnight by neighbors who was, shall I describe, insensitive to all of the tragedy around them plus the fact that we neighbors did not have decent sleep for more than one day because of the blackout.
May God give us the strength to bounce back again from the ruins.
karaoke singing in the middle of the night, after a storm and without electricity! oh, my!
SAme thing here. Adjacent subdivisions already had power on Saturday evening and we had to live with the karaoke singing. And you know how sound carries when it's all quiet.
Joy Re hoarding: we were in the supermarket yesterday and that’s a story all its own. I think I’ll post a separate entry about the hoarding part. It was shocking.
I was in high school when Yoling struck and I tell you it was nothing compared to what we have experienced with this one. Maybe it was because I was just a teen ager during that time but I know it's because my family never suffered anything during Yoling. NOw, the wide scale flooding of practically the entire Metro Manila and suburbs is very frightening. While we live in a place where flooding happens every 8-9 months, the water never reaches our house. Not with this one. We had about 6" of flood on the onslaught now reduced to about two and rising with the tide. I hope this is not the kind that lasts a month.
However, I cannot complain considering what befell the others who are now homeless and lost a relative in the aftermath. My prayers are for them.
I'm glad you're all safe.
You were among those I meant to text on Saturday evening because you live in Pasig. Then, Smart's signal went kaput. My phone kept searching and searching for a signal until the battery went dead. That was total cutoff for me. Nowhere to charge the phone and landline was wonky at best.
At least my globe cellphone line signal never went kaput during the height of the typhoon, I was able to send message to my aunt in the US. Out pldt landline did because it was grounded.
Re: karaoke singing – it was something I can never forget. Parang matatangalan ng tinggil ung kapitbahay namin – describing it as someone asking for help. Nakakagulat talaga!
My cellfone's inutile until today. WE are still flooded and it looks like it's going to stay at least a month. We may move out.
Oh my. I am so, so sad to hear that. Houses for rent are less expensive here in Antipolo. Want me to check out some for you?
It's okay. Thanks. We will be staying in Antipolo but the one near Marikina. My wife has a shoe factory there that has a house on the fourth floor. We may stay there until Sunday. Come Monday, when classes resume, we may distribute the kids to different places. I, myself will have to stay in Alabang. Thanks for the offer, though.
Okay. Just holler if you need one ha. Dami dito for rent.
oops, my bad. I meant my wife's sister. Sheesh, I wish we had some business but no, we are merely slaves in this corporate world.
Tita Connie, hehe, nakiki-tita. Student from HEdCen rin, may I ask, 20" or 24" iMac ba yan? I'm thinking of buying one eh.
Hi Vinz.
This is the 20" model.
Ms Connie, I still feel lucky even if the water reached chest level in my house and all our possessions, save for the TV and computer were safe because my whole family is alive. I can't complain because I only have to clean up and life can be back to normal, unlike those who lost some members of their family.
Oh, I know the feeling. All those times when I had to carry pails of water from the laundry area all the way to the bathroom, I told myself not to complain because we were alive, we were whole and we were safe.
At least, in this post, if I'm not mistaken, there is no mention o0f global warming or climate change as the cause of the misery.
Ako pa. LOL
Wow, very scary to read your accounts of the storm. There was absolutely nothing where I live in Makati….even the power stayed on the whole time. Makes it hard to believe I live in the same city after watching the news or seeing photos of the devestation….truly nightmarish.
Precisely why I'm entertaining the idea of moving to that part of Makati where it never gets flooded and where power interruption is always minimal hehe
Yes, if it didn't flood this time, it will never flood. I guess we have good drainage. The only time the power has ever gone off was during Mileyno — that was really painful.
Our Milenyo experience was terrible too. We had to move out for two days because of the power outage and no water situation.
Yes, one of the few times I actually looked forward going to the province — at least they had electricity!
Looks like we are fixing to get hit again! Kainis!!
Still sunny here. Bracing myself for whatever happens tonight. Hope you have enough canned goods and instant noodles hehehe
Well that wasn't too bad…they should all be like that! For some reason the 110v in my house was out all day, but the 220v was unaffected (but my toys are all 110) :-0