Indeed, nature has its way of teaching its people. And when it does, it is sometimes harder than one can expect.

During the weekend, typhoon Ondoy displaces hundreds of families and flooded most areas of Metro Manila, making it the worst case of flooding seen in recent years.

vehicles afloat everywhere

Honestly, it was a scary experience to everyone. And because it was on a Saturday when the massive rainfall started, many have been stranded in their workplace, while others in their homes and eventually on their rooftop.

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Between that time, I was in my parents’ residence in Sampaloc, Manila along España. It was already slightly raining on a Friday, but it turned worst on a Saturday morning, starting 10 am. And in the short span of 2 hours, water started getting inside our house.

At first, we thought it’s going to be just one of those previous cases of flood we’ve gone through. After all, living in España for years has somehow prepared us already with what to do in cases like that. But Ondoy is really strong. Not to mention scary, after it left us with a chest-high water. So far, the highest we’ve experienced.

When typhoon Milenyo directly hit Metro Manila in 2006, it was deemed the strongest in 11 years. But no one really prepared everyone with typhoon Ondoy’s strength as it turned some parts of Metro Manila, specifically Marikina into a virtual lake.

And speaking of these two typhoons, is it just a coincidence that they both happened on the month of September? Milenyo in 2006, while Ondoy three years after?

Both also resulted to a Luzon-wide blackout, flooding and landslides in some parts of the Philippines directly affected by it, thousands of stranded individuals, and overturned countless vehicles. And both also recorded more than a dozen of fatalities.