Tropical Storm Ondoy (international name Ketsana) hit land early next morning. It was September 27, 2009, a Saturday when Ondoy packed winds of 85 kilometers per hour as it moved across Northern Luzon towards China Sea. It brought so much rain that by late in the afternoon, the water started to flood the garage where the men were working. The hardware delivered some materials but failed to make a second trip. We managed to raise the lumber and plywood and keep it dry. Soon, water entered my house we had to raise the piano and other furniture. Towards midnight, it was knee deep in the house.

It was high tide and the water from the Pasig River started to come in. The cars were submerged up to the headlights. Part of the street suffered a power failure and we were lucky to have had electricity except for a few hours. Elsewhere, people were undergoing an ordeal, going to higher ground. In many cases, higher ground was the roof of their house. I heard Lito Atienza comment on the radio that the effects of global warming is starting to tell. The equivalent of one month worth of rain fell in less than one day, according to government weathermen. They also released water from Angat Dam as it reached critical levels.





