Ondoy - We survived the tragedy...

What follows is a running account of our experiences during the Tropical Storm/Typhoon (I've heard it referred to as both) named Ondoy in the Philippines. To all those who reached out trying to contact us during the time we were cut-off from normal communications, your concern is greatly appreciated.

Now, here is the story...

It’s Saturday, September 24th about 3:00 AM and it’s been raining since early Friday. The rain is not that unusual as this is Southeast Asia, but this is a driving rain that indicates a heavy storm is coming. I spent the evening at Kipling’s visiting with Barbara C. and it was still raining when I went out to get my car. The roads leading to Cainta didn’t have any standing water, however, and that’s a good sign. I hope the storm passes quickly.

It’s now 4:00 PM and the rain hasn’t let up. I’m supposed to meet with Jim D. at his house later today for cigars and conversation but it looks like I’ll have to pass. I am worried about being away from Lil’ Miss Wonderful when it is stormy like this. Unfortunately, I don’t have a local number for Jim but he has mine and I’m sure he’ll either figure out that the storm has kept me from being at his house or he’ll call.

It’s 5:00 PM and the electricity just went out. Hopefully it will come back on soon but the storm’s intensity has steadily increased. Lil' Miss Wonderful is taking a nap and the room will stay cool so there’s no problem. The phone is still working so we’re not cut-off from the outside world and that’s a good thing. I will sleep early tonight and take my baby girl to the Powerplant Mall in Makati in the afternoon tomorrow so I can go online and post this in either Facebook or my blog.

Sunday, 2:00 PM. I made an attempt to drive out of the village today and could only get half-way to the front gate. The road in front of the house is wet but without standing water; however half a block away the water covers the roadway. As I drove towards the front gate the water kept getting deeper and when it got to the top of the wheel rim I turned around and returned to the house. Any deeper and I was afraid that the car would stall and/or the interior would flood.

It’s about 5:00 PM and as I finished a good cigar just an hour ago—never underestimate the curative power of a good cigar when things aren’t exactly perfect—the power came back on. We have fans, A/C in the bedroom, news on TV and are relatively dry with no flooding in the house. Life is good and blessings are plentiful. It is distressing to see the news as it indicates serious flooding and some deaths. I am thankful we are safe. Cut-off from the world outside the village but safe.

Today, Monday, is the 3rd day of being marooned due to the tropical storm that hit Manila square on. We were able to get a water delivery this morning so we have fresh, potable water to drink. Best of all, the rain has stopped and the water has been very slowly receding since yesterday.

Yesterday the two maids, Elena and Cecille, braved to walk out for provisions. They reported that it was good that I stopped and turned around with the car when I did because the water was waist high before they could get out of the village and the car would surely have been stuck in the flood water.

When the power came back we were able to start getting news reports and found that we were at the edge of some of the worst hit flooding in Metro Manila. That was the good news. The bad news was that to get to this village you have to pass through the area where some of the worst flooding hit. With sufficient potable water, rice and electricity we are comfortable and will wait until the water recedes sufficiently to drive into the business center of Makati.

My wife called from the airport when she arrived from Hong Kong at 2:00 AM this morning—the flight was delayed as she was supposed to be back at 11:00 PM last evening. Luckily she was in Hong Kong when the storm hit and was spared the discomfort. When we talked I urged her to spend the night with a friend in Makati and wait until later this morning to try to come home. If she can make it into the village then we’ll know we can get out of the village. Then I’ll be able to post this in the blog from Kipling’s—that small piece of cigar and whisky heaven in this otherwise weather-beaten world.

One of the bits of news trumpeted in the local media was assistance from the U.S. Marine Corps. A platoon or so of men, some rubber boats and a couple of helicopters were treated like manna from heaven. It did make me proud that despite all our faults for which President Obama sees fit to apologize to the world, America immediately opened its’ heart and did what it could to help with what it had on hand. It also makes me proud to know that the people here feel that if the Marines are here then all will be right in the end.

I’ve been through severe tropical storms and typhoons here in Asia before. It’s never a picnic and in the aftermath the rhetoric is always the same: Television channels run almost competing fund drives for those who have suffered the losses; the central government scores local government entities for failing to keep the drainage system clean of trash; and, the poorest of the people endure. It has never changed despite promises of successive politicians to correct the problem. My bet is that it won’t change in my lifetime.

One thing we’ve heard is that the central government decided to release water from the dam that is the water supply for Metro Manila out of fear that the amount of incoming water would cause it to burst if they didn’t. Unfortunately, they failed to notify the public that they were going to do so and no one was prepared for the sudden unexpected rise in the water level. A local TV channel reported 78 dead. I wonder, who made the decision to release the water and failed to think about announcing it? There will be an investigation, of course, and the usual suspects will be pilloried in the press but, unfortunately, that won’t change anything.

It’s now 2:30 PM and my wife has called to advise that her attempt to get here in a 4-wheel drive vehicle failed. The driver tried all three possible routes into this village but there was no possible way to get through. Besides the height of the water, stalled vehicles litter and block the roads where the flooding was worst. My sister-in-law received a call a short while ago from a friend who advised that his family is trying to rent a truck to take relatives out of the village so that they can catch a planned flight to Dubai. If that truck can get into the village we will share the cost—sure to be dear considering the circumstances—and make for higher ground in Makati. But I told my wife that we were safe here and that I would not move our daughter unless there was no danger. She agreed.

She also told me that she had talked to a close friend of mine—now a senior police official but a Captain when we met in 1991—who advised her that as long as we were safe and relatively dry we should stay put. The rescue efforts of those in much greater need were taking all the available resources of the Philippine National Police. He promised to keep touch with here in case things got worse. And I know he will as Rachel Camille is his goddaughter and that is something taken very seriously here in the Philippines. Besides, he is a good and true friend and brother.

My wife is concerned and stressing because another storm is predicted to follow soon although it is not expected to be serious; and, also because she found out that two people she knew died in the flooding on Saturday. She was quite upset as she knew them well from her time at Photokina Marketing Corporation. Tony Chua, the Team Manager of the professional basketball team that the company owns and his assistant were both well known to both of us. They were together in a car when it got caught in the flooding and the engine died. They exited the vehicle and were holding onto a tree for support against the rushing waters when something blown by the wind hit Tony in the head and causing him to let go of the tree and fall into the water. His assistant tried to catch him and was lost, too. The driver of the car wisely kept his hold on the tree and survived.

Watching the local professional basketball was always a favorite pastime for me and I will miss Tony as will the players and coaches who worked with him. He was always a friendly man with a ready smile. As I told my wife, we may be uncomfortable but we are whole. The families of those who have been lost in the flooding should come first.

My wife called about 9:00 PM and told me that we needed to pack as a friend had arranged for us to be evacuated. The concern is that if we don’t get out now one of the storms predicted for later in the week will make the flooding even worse.
After a flurry of packing and re-packing to prioritize what we will carry we have settled down to await the evacuation/rescue team.

It's Tuesday the 29th and at about 1:30 AM this morning a team of 5 Philippine National Police officers arrived to evacuate us. After speaking with them to determine what they had for transportation we loaded approximately half of our bags into the car and headed for the front gate where the 14’ LoadStar rigid inflatable boat was waiting. The water had receded somewhat from previous attempt on Sunday but not as much as we would have liked but the need to get to the boat was greater than any worry about the car.

Lil’ Miss Wonderful was exactly that. Awakened from a deep sleep and hurriedly dressed, she smiled broadly when I asked her if she’d like to go for a boat ride and then kept up an excited, steady chatter all the way to the boat. We had to wade through about 6 inches of sewage-laden water from the car to the boat—the front gate of the village is on higher ground than other parts of the village—so I put her on my shoulders to keep her high and dry. When we got to the boat I passed her to Cecille and helped get the luggage that we had into the boat. Once the boat was loaded our rescuers pushed it into deeper water and turned it around. One took hold of the rope in front and started walking through the waist deep water to where they had left their truck. It took us the better part of an hour to get to the truck, off-load the boat and get moving. The water was still deep but within a mile we were on merely wet road and by 3:00 AM were sitting in our friend’s condo high above Makati.

He immediately poured me a shot of 50-year old Mordach scotch whisky to welcome me to his home and we discussed the events leading to the rescue including the over 100 people who died in the flooding. It was a sobering discussion. We cannot compare our own relatively small discomforts to the losses of so many others.

The sun is now high in the sky and my son from Idaho called to check on our safety after having gotten my wife’s number from my other son in Virginia (who, I should add had already been in contact with my wife). A light breakfast and a pot of coffee under my belt with the sound of my daughter’s chatter in my ears and I can say again, “Life is good!”

The bad news is that in the haste to evacuate I left my other pair of shoes in one of the bags that is still in the house. That means my only pair of shoes here are wet from wading in the floodwaters yesterday; but if that’s my only problem on this day then I am truly blessed.

There are websites already set-up for donations that will go to the people most hurt by this calamity. If you can find it in your heart, please look for one on the internet and contribute what you can.

Thanks go out to all those who sent messages via Facebook and email asking how we were. Thanks to your prayers and concerns we are fine. God bless you all.