An Account of our experience with TYPHOON PEPENG

I wrote this when the internet is down and now that i am able to access the neat again... i guess it is but proper for me to share a full account of what we had been through....

I don’t know where to start… it gives me so much pain to even reminisce the reality that we had been facing for the past few days. But it is needed. For one I know most of you are concerned about our situation especially since it is all over the news that Baguio city and Dagupan City is under the state of calamity and had been under too much stress and pain lately. First of all, I want to thank everybody who had prayed for our family’s safety and for all those who are concerned. I will be forever grateful that we were included in your prayers. I believed that it is through our combined prayers that I and my family were out of harm’s way.
When I was watching the news about typhoon Ondoy I thanked God that we were not as affected as the people in Metro Manila. I even shed some tears and felt that it is but proper for me to help in these trying times. So my husband and I agreed that we will try to donate as much as our budget would allow us so that we can help our fellow Filipino brothers and sisters. It’s sort of our way of saying thank you that we are not one of those who suffered.
Less than a week later came typhoon Peping. More than 5 days ago, it was raining nonstop due to the typhoon. At that time my only concern was it was so cold here in Baguio that I wanted to go home to Dagupan city so I could work properly. Since Baguio is located on a mountain top, it is really cold and the temperature could be tough. It was so cold that I am already wearing three jackets and some thermal pants that I can still fell the coldness seeping in. the problem is I can barely work when it is cold because of my cesarean operation and my scoliosis. Sometimes, if it’s too cold, I cannot even move because it hurts to move. So I decided that I will go home to Dagupan so I can work on a better temperature, since it was raining hard, my husband said not to push through. It was a good thing that I listened else I would have been buried alive in the series of landslides that happened.
I was thankful that I did not push through but at the same time was also worried for the safety of my family. I first found out that our house is flooded through my sister. At first I said well it might just be one of the yearly floods because Dagupan City does have the tendency to get flooded at least 5 times a year. Sometimes, it would reach up to the waist level but still nothing so serious and deadly like the one that happened in Manila with Typhoon Ondoy. I was dead wrong and wished that I never assumed.
At around 12 noon time, my sister called me again and said that the house was flooded knee deep inside the house. I knew then that something was wrong because our house was sort of elevated and designed in such a way that the normal flood will not enter the house. I was already in a state of panic and wished that I was with my mom and sisters at the moment. I told them to go and plead with our neighbors so they could stay with them for their safety. Our neighbors agreed and all of them stayed in the second floor of our neighbor’s house because the water is almost ten feet high already. I was not able to call them until 4 in the afternoon because city services in Dagupan and Baguio were down which meant that I can’t call the land line phone and the cell phones were all out of reach plus the fact that all of our cell phone batteries were dead.
I have to borrow a couple of cell phones from my neighbors for me to be able to call them. When I spoke with my mom I was comforted when she said that they were safe but she doesn’t know until when because water is still rising and our house is flooded up to the ceiling. She said they may need to climb the roof for them to survive. But she also assured me that the water is not rising as fast as it was so they may be able to pass the night safely. I asked if they had food and mom said they had none. I wanted to go home in an instant but mom said even if I did, I will not be able to because the flood is so high and the current is so strong that the rubber boats can’t even get into the house. I also found out form my neighbors that all the roads that are going out of Baguio had been closed because of landslides and many travelers were buried alive. That means that only way I can get out of Baguio was through air travel. This is almost next to impossible since there are no commercial flights here and the only air travel available is via the government chopper. Even up to now, the roads here are closed that’s why we can’t even have basic supplies such as food and gas for the cars. We went to the market yesterday and we cannot even buy some chicken. We have to settle for canned goods.
All I can do at that time was pray and get in touch with other family members to find out their condition. I found out that one of my cousins was also trapped with her almost 3 month’s old baby in a neighbor’s house. Same case as our house, it was flooded and you can’t even see the roof due to the flood. I tried calling some others who can help and tried to seek help from my cousins form manila to at least contact some of my clients to let them know why I was not able to do my job because of what’s happening.
That same night, while I was worried sick about my family, at around 8 pm, the neighborhood got a landslide. 50 houses were affected and washed out due to the land slide. Up to date almost 40 people were buried alive and died because of what happened. That deadly site is just walking distance from our house. In fact, if you look at the window, you will be reminded of the tragedy. Even up to now, I can still see from our window the search and rescue team and I can see them bring out a blanket to cover a recovered body as they carry it to the stretcher to the ambulance. This happens almost every hour of the day. It breaks my heart at the same time I was grateful that t was not us who were being carried in the stretcher. You can see relatives and other family members of the deceased wallow in their pain for the tragic loss of their loved ones. And again I was thankful that it was not us who were going through that pain.
I prayed and prayed that my family and husband’s family will be safe and not have the same tragedy as our neighbors. Thankfully God answered my prayers. No harm was done with any of my family members and they were rescued after more than 24 hours with no food from our neighbor’s house. In as much as I would like to go home and see for myself, up to now the roads are closed and impassable. We also got an update that the house of my husband’s mother’s house was also flooded up to the 2nd floor of the house and like us, almost lost all the properties. However no harm was done.
According to my sister my mom was crying because our flower shop business is also affected. Almost all are lost. From the car, to the motorcycle, to the business and the home furniture and appliances, all were almost lost. Material things were damaged due to the flood. But if we look on the bright side, those thongs can be replaced and we are still lucky that nobody in our family is hurt. Right now, they are safe and had been kindly given assistance and shelter from my brother in laws family. I still haven’t seen them because I can’t go home yet due to impassable roads but they are safe and that’s all that matters.
Here in Baguio, It still hurts to look at my window because there are still unrecovered bodies. Sometimes you can even literally smell death or decaying bodies. It hurts me to look at the window so I have to mask it with thick curtains. Our food is still an issue because we are only limited to buy certain commodities. The city services are down and that includes the internet so I could not work. I have to pay our neighbor who has a generator to charge battery for my computer and cell phones. Well right now, we have electricity already but only at certain hours of the day. The landslide also affected the electric post of our Barangay so we still don’t have stable supply of electricity as well as internet is down for most part for many days now. I need to work again so I can start getting some funds for house repairs and such.
If there is one thing I’m proud of being a Filipino is resiliency. No matter what happens, I know that we can always get back on track. We do it with such grace that we can sometimes even smile and say well that’s life. And that’s my plan. Smile and work hard again because life goes on, now more than ever, I need to work hard for us to be able to recover from the financial burdens of the flood and the disasters. Our family may have lost all material things but our spirit is still uplifted and now is the time for a great start.
I don’t know when the internet will be stable so I can resume working again. We also need time to inspect damages and repair what is left form our house. Aside from the flower shop, my husband’s personal business is also damaged so we have to see what we can do to salvage what is left. We also have to help with repairs for my mother in laws house. Left and right we have obligations to fulfill and help out. In as much as we wanted to do it ASAP we are not able to due to the road closure. Hopefully this coming weekend, we will be able to go home.
I am sick as well right now because of the weather and my son is also sick and I am hoping that he does not get hospitalized. I am not complaining because at this point I feel like we don’t have a right to complain as compared to what happened to our neighbors. I even feel lucky and guilty that I can only do as much to help. Right now what’s keeping me busy while the internet is down and since I can’t work yet without the net, is obviously writing this long account of what happened and during day time cleaning the house and packing some things I could donate for those who have lost everything.
I’m hoping that I could get back to work as soon as everything is fixed so I can start earning again. I may not be able to go back to work full time for now because we have to take care of a lot of things but still would do my best to accommodate as much as I can because I badly need the money as it will help my family start all over again.
To all my cousins and family and to everybody who prayed for our safety, thank you so much. The prayers did more than a miracle. For all of those who had been trying to get in touch and I wasn’t able to get back as soon as possible, I am sorry but I hope that this account will explain why. I’ll try to give another detailed account for the sake of those who are away and want to know if we are safe. For now, again my deepest gratitude for those who have been there to support us.