What a bummer to see polls, trolls, calls all crying out who's to blame for the numerous deaths due to floods.
Bejezus, stop it already.
We can't bring back the lost lives with the blaming or with what I want to say, but my 2-sentimos is this: The times now are different from 10, 20 years ago.
Storms in the 90s and early 2000 are much different from the storms now. So, the way we will deal with this should also be different. Right now, what we do know is that we do not know what to expect, but the rains ARE strong, sometimes with no storm signals at all. So how to deal? It's more on playing it by ear because we do not know what will happen next. The rain can be just the usual one or something that brings flash floods. We do not know, really. But we have to tune in, to listen, to look, to feel at what's happening next.
We have to be vigilant.
Coping with a flood on a family level is the most important of all. In a crucial moment, we don't really save our asses as a community but we fend for ourselves with our family. We cope with neighbors if and when we get together with them during emergency time. We do not really deal with a flood as a bunch of people, as a local government. For most of us, it's just our own body, our kids, parents and house companions who cope with a flood. The local and national government are there to help out with warnings, evacuations and such. But in that moment, it's just ourselves and our family.
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During the Ondoy rains of 2009, my sister in Cainta called me up at noon with fear in her voice about the water rapidly rising. As we were flood children in the 80s and 90s, totally used to waters in, out and around the house, her fear was alarming for me. While we were on the phone, I remembered my friend's story of her tita in Jaro during the Frank rains of 2008. The aunt went up to the second floor to fold clothes, and in a few moments, felt water seeping by her feet. The aunt and family got out through the second floor window and headed towards safety by wading through the water holding on to ropes strewn across the street tied on to poles.
Recalling this incident, I told my sister to ready ropes and anything that floats. I did not expect them to use it, really. But we never can tell, nobody expected that Frank flood to be so bad. I hoped Ondoy wouldn't be like it, but I felt surprise was one element that kept cropping up with natural disasters those days (still does, these days. But only because we are so stubborn). My sister had an inflatable bed and family members hurriedly inflated it. A few hours later, they and the neighbors were able to use the bed to get to another neighbor with a three-story house. The water was too high to simply wade through.
Pedring was another misfortune that I couldn't help but cringe on the blaming. Blame blame blame the lack of preparation due to the "wrong" signal number of the storm, when of course, the signal numbers just follow certain criteria to be numbered as such.
Again, Sendong. So many repetitive questions on who is to blame.
Hello, people. Just stop it already. :-p This is too important to just yak away and look on.
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Suggestions of how to deal with floods: by someone who grew up having floods about 10-15 times a year, but is now clueless and is basing it on patterns from the floods the past 4 years
Before the rains come. As in, to-do now:
- Have an evacuation plan even if you think you don't need one.- Ready evacuation items/ equipment even if you don't think you'll need it.
- Have a plan on where to meet if in case you have to separate.
- Have a coordination plan with relatives you can run to in case your area gets flooded. Discuss this during non-rainy days so they will not get surprised when emergencies happen.
- Have an plan where to go and stay if in case floods do affect your house terribly, even if you feel it impossible. Plan this according to where you work and how kids will get to school.
- Avoid being too lax on this matter even if you are thinking the whole family is safe on the second floor rooms. Many of our tragedies that happened, happened to people staying on the second-story rooms of their house.
- Have a plan on how to evacuate pets as well.
When the rains come:
- When the rains are expected, do the usual drill of preparing flashlights, candles, water, food, cell phone batteries and load
- Since everything is now a "surprise" disaster with flashfloods, check water levels on the street and around your house REGULARLY even if you didn't do that before.
Take note of unusual water levels in the sewers. Watch out for strange plumbing activity even in your own CRs. Then note the time difference when it actually floods your street. After this, note differences in water level and time durations. Cross check with weather forecasts the water level rise and the predicted duration of coming rain.
- Watch out for flash floods too, which is becoming more and more common the past years, yes? There are no predictions of storms, just rains. This happened once or twice in Cainta the past years too, and has left me with the jarring reminder of being watchful always. Be watchful ALL THE TIME of the rain, weather predictions or none.
- At night, take turns getting up to check the water levels.
In the 80's, since we lived in flood-prone area Cainta, by a creek, to boot, my parents would get up hourly to check the water rising by the creek and on the streets. They knew if water was rising too fast or the usual, based on observation and remembering past floods.
- If you do have to evacuate, secure your money, ATM cards and other important documents in sealed plastic bags.
- Don't be a stubborn bitch. Leave the house when you have to. Even if you are OA and leave before the rains come, my thinking is: Better OA on a dry day than tegi-bums on a really rainy day.
Now, just counting the storms in my title, there are 4 examples that I used, but there are definitely more storms that have come to our country. Do we really still get surprised when the rains and floods are too devastating? Sigh.
Just look at the patterns of everything that has happened. We all love our families. Let us all be cautious and observant of nature so that we can care for and protect our families better.
My condolences to all those who lost their families in all the past floods. This piece is for you.
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