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‘Ondoy’ leaves 72 dead and missing

(The Philippine Star) Updated September 27, 2009 11:09 AM

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Officials say the number of dead or missing from tropical sorm ‘Ondoy (international code name Ketsana) has climbed to at least 72 people. The storm set off the worst flooding in the Philippine capital and nearby provinces in more than 42 years.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said today  that army troops, police and civilian volunteers rescued more than 4,000 people — many of them nervously clinging to each other on roofs and on top of a passenger bus — as they were drenched by the storm the day before.

The massive rescue was to intensify as the weather began to clear and floodwaters began to recede Sunday.

‘Ondoy’ roared across the northern Philippines near Manila on Saturday, then began to blow away toward the South China Sea.

(source)

The heavy rain poured continuously from Friday night until Saturday night. As early as Saturday morning, we watched news on tv, and saw lots of people asking for help. In some areas, the flood reached second stories of several houses. It happened really quick. I’ve heard that during that 24-hour period, the rainfall was equivalent to a month’s rain, and our country have not experienced this since 1967. As tv cameras zoomed in, we saw people sitting on the roofs of their houses, since the houses are literally submerged in water. Men, women, children, babies — they had no choice but to sit there and wait for help. They were stuck there with no food and water, not enough clothes to protect them from the rain and cold wind, and are left with fear and worries about what’s gonna happen next.

Knowing what other people are experiencing at that moment, we were grateful that our area wasn’t flooded, and we didn’t mind that the power was cut off for eight hours. When the power came back, we continued watching the news, and it was really sad to see people crying because they lost their homes, and for some, they lost loved ones, too.

On Sunday morning, I sent text messages to my friends, asking if they were alright. I’m thankful that even though some of my friends’ houses were flooded with water, they’re all safe.

I hope nothing like this would happen again in the future.