Yesterday’s terror, and my predicament today
Today is quite sunny i suppose, compared to the downpour yesterday. Yes, today is definitely better compared yesterday.
Yesterday, I offered to show Z how awesome the downpour was from my end of the world. She said it was raining hard over at her end as well, but I said the rain yesterday looked amazing that she should really see it. Little did I know, the rain was indeed amazing… so amazing that it swept away approximately 60 houses at our neighborhood and took away lives. Who knew? Even those who living in their houses thought it was just going to pass. As what D said, most of the people were confident enough that their houses could withstand the rain, but obviously they were wrong. Most of those whose houses were swept away were unable to save their belongings, although admittedly, there were some who did manage to do so.
I witnessed the flood first hand. Right around 3 pm, the electric company cut off our power supply because one of the electricity posts got submerged by the flood. Yes, it was THAT bad. See, we live close to the Banica River, and although there was a dike to keep the water contained, the flood rose above the dike and overflowed. That was why a lot of houses were flooded over. That would be the reason why the electricity posts got submerged – and the reason why our electricity got cut off. It is definitely a good thing that we are on the other side of the street – which is higher compared to the opposite side – so we only suffered a very small flood when the drainage flooded over.
What I saw was a terrifying sight. See, D told me that the bridge more or less trembled due to the force of the rushing water plus the huge traffic that was moving at a snails pace. I did not go out just to see how the flood looked. God help me but I needed to buy candles, so even if it was just 5 pm, and the electricity had not yet returned, I went out. At least the rain ended. Since the traffic jam was huge by Dumaguete standards, I walked and crossed the bridge by foot. There I saw the angry river whose force you could really feel. In fact, I saw a rooftop get carried away, then some people were shouting as they scrambled to retrieve something that was hurriedly being carried along. When I passed by the water had lowered a bit, but by the time I got back, it rose once again.
As a result, we had no electricity for the whole night. At least it was not that hot since there was still signs of cold wind blowing through. Nevertheless, the kids did not have a restful night’s sleep as they tossed and turned – ending with me having no sleep plus loads of work to do.
Now, I am at a cafe. The streets have been washed clean by the rain, and when I passed over the bridge, I saw some children with ropes tied around their bodies, still trying to retrieve what they could that was still being washed away from the flood.
I hope the electric company can do something about our electricity this afternoon. My father-in-law used to work for the said electric company, and he said that the electric company did it all wrong since they could have isolated the damages without having to cut off our electricity. If anybody chanced by our neighborhood last night, they would see just one block without electricity. **sigh**
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The anger of the rain did not just do damage to those in our neighborhood yesterday. Last night my mother-in-law who had to travel from 3 towns away said that there were numerous deaths that also happened at the place on the road to camp minus prison that usually floods. Some of those people were motorcyclists – and I hope those people were not from camp minus prison – who attempted to cross the flood despite its raging force. One of my new colleagues at Parole School also lost her house due to the rain. The boss’ personal assistant informed me yesterday, when we bumped into each other when I was buying candles, that Miss K (the colleague) was unable to save any belongings at all. She and her family just jumped over the fence because the flash flood caught them unaware. At least the boss at Parole School is really kind. I received a text that if any of us – employees at Parole School – needed assistance, we should immediately contact him through his personal assistant so that help can be issued immediately.
I pray for those who suffered from the flood and rain. I pray that they be well, and that somehow help can be extended to all of them. For now, I think I shall scour what I have and offer it to people who need it.
OMG! It was THAT bad! I’m so glad you guys were safe! Heck! P didn’t even mention the flood! Im’a gonna wring his neck! We also live near the Banica River, too!! Ahhhhhhh!!
Oh well…so much for the drama, we live across the street too but still…
I’m sooo glad ur okay maot!
I wasn’t in Dumaguete during the flood since we’re having our fieldtrip in Cebu. We arrived around 5 AM after the flood and the city was in complete mess. I saw houses beside banica river being swept away by the raging water. It’s horrible!
[...] Lurchie’s account of what happened. She lived close to one of the main rivers passing through Dumaguete. ▶ [...]
uyyyy! I heard that the homes around Banica were really damaged by the floods. I saw the news on TV, pero could not distinguish if it was footage from your area or not. I’m glad you are ok. The kitchen of my sister’s friend got carried away by the river…grabe jud diay ang baha!
[...] more pictures of the destruction left in the flood's aftermath. Anthology of Snippets also witnessed the flood firsthand. aNesstajah claims that Dumaguete is awash with flood stories. Posted by [...]
I was in bais conducting a seminar for the fisherfolks. We had to stop the seminar because their pigs were already swimming. Also, more than 30 houses in Ocoy (a community in Sibulan we’re also serving), which is near Ocoy river, were swept away by the flood.
Really sad. Mother Nature is not happy anymore.