I have Typhoon Frank (international code name: Fengshen) to thank for the misfortune I had since yesterday. I was supposed to go home to Iloilo yesterday morning but lo and behold! Typhoon Frank came lashing out with heavy rains and strong winds that cancelled all boat trips. I found myself stranded in Bacolod City with five boxes of Roli’s Napoleones. No matter how much I love napoleones, five boxes is just overkill. Wait, there’s more. Electricity was cut-off since yesterday morning so was our water supply. Yes, I didn’t have a decent bath since yesterday save for short showers with rainwater.

I was a little worried of my parents back in Iloilo. Our barangay is not flood prone but there were previous instances when the Batiano River got flooded making the bridge connecting our barangay from the highway unpassable, cutting us off from Oton town proper. My niece told me they’re fine though there were also heavy rains and strong winds. Good thing I had the house fixed and we already cut off the bamboo lumps aroud the house that used to get uprooted during typhoons.

However, some are not as lucky. An office mate who also lives here in Bacolod told me that their town, San Miguel, got flooded because the dam there was destroyed. It was the first time that their town got flooded so most people were not prepared. Homes near the riverbank made of light materials were destroyed and those which survived had six feet of flood waters and only their roofs and second floors were visible. Our boss who also lives there recounts how their helper saved his father and son at the nick of time before floodwaters swept their house away.

Typhoons are a part of life in a tropical country like the Philippines. But one can never get used to the danger, destruction, and deaths brought by these monsters along their paths. I’m lucky that it is only bath that I miss. As death toll rise to 49 in Iloilo, it is already to be placed under a state of calamity. I pray for those who lost their homes, livelihood and loved ones.

Image downloaded from PAG-ASA