Floodings/typhoons

So when I think about flooding I think of some excess water in the yard or wash that is gushing with water after a monsoon rain during the last hour. Water that will recede within just a short time and the only remnants of gravel and dirt in the street would remain indicating there was ever water rushing down the road.

Here in the Philippines the floods are a little more extreme, well "a little more" may be an understatement but in my community it is a fact of life. A flood something that will happen whether you prepare for it or not (like last week). It rained for 72 hours straight from a mild drizzle to an out right torrential down pour. Lightning crashed and the wind ripped leaves and branches from trees. I was either at work, at the bakery (watching the weather with amazement) or in my bedroom wondering if I will be able to get to sleep with the noise during this time. I am lucky that I have roof insulation because the roves here are made from tin and are really noisy. The other morning I was on the phone with my dad and the rain (ulan in tagalong) really started coming down; I could barely hear him and moved to different parts of the house to continue the conversation. In the end I lost cell phone signal and realized it was the beginning of the harshest part of our 72 hours. Why did we have such crazy weather, well it is easy… we get these crazy down pours when a bagio (typhoon) hits relatively close. In this case the bagio hit the side of Luzon (I live on the main island Luzon) and we get the left overs. Lets face it the Philippines is also known for their crazy weather. We have just been in a drought (so much so that we have had brown outs because there is not enough water in the dams for hydro electricity) so it is really good we got some rain.

Last year a bagio actually hit my previous barangay and it even took out a side of someone's house. Concrete block houses are built at least 2 cinderblocks off the ground. Most are about 4 blocks high and then the living room and bedrooms will be a cinderblock higher. My current house is like this: I step up one cinderblock onto the patio. I step up another cinderblock into the house and go up 4 steps to my room. If we have a flood I am totally safe. In my last house you would walk up 3 cinderblocks into the outdoor kitchen, then another step into the dinning room and living room and finally one more step into my bedroom.

When I left to go home from work on Wednesday I had to step in ankle deep water to get to the vehicle just to take me to the main road. My compound is on a slight slope so the water does not remain in the courtyard but just flows towards the back of the compound and goes somewhere else.

I went to Olongapo last Wednesday to buy a bike because having to ride in this weather gets me home faster than walking in it and I am not in a city where public transportation is readily available once you walk out to the street. I also need the exercise. The only vehicles that were making it were the big public busses (like a Greyhound). My counterpart said that Olongapo would be a little flooded but not where I was going. Since I was on a mission no amount of bad weather was going to stand in my way, after all I was already walking home in it. Okay the havoc the rain had caused was immense. People's homes were flooded by the feet. The roads were knee deep in water and people were wading through it. A great big machine was reaching over the bridge grapping debris caught at the bridge because water was pouring over the bridge. In some places the water was as high as the top of the bus wheel. Every field and open area was flooded and could not determine how deep it was specifically but it was at least 2-5 feet deep.

In Olongapo the wind was out of control and you couldn't even use your umbrella for fear of it breaking (hello incoming Mary Poppins). Lisa met me here with her host mom even though she wanted to curl up and read her book today. We both got a rain suit and boots so we are more prepared. I also got a bigger umbrella one that could cover a small family because I really didn't feel well covered in mine and I happen to be bigger than the average Filippino but now I will be totally fine.

Please understand that I am in no serious danger and don't be concerned about my safety regarding where I live, work or even the weather it's just that I totally underestimated the power of the weather and what people have to live through. I am getting such an education here and I love it :-)

Sorry no photo's