#REMEMBERSEPTEMBER - A TRAGIC SEPTEMBER THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET

Have you learned something valuable from past Septembers? Tell us how it helped you.

I always think of the Greenday song "Wake me up when September ends" during September because I used to play it every time it rained. And when the song came on the radio, I too had memories of those rainy September days in 2009.

September is the middle month of the rainy season in the Philippines, and this month usually experiences a lot of storms. In September 2009, the Philippines hit by typhoon Ondoy that cause widespread flooding in many parts of Luzon, especially in Marikina where I live. The storm brought an unusual high volume of rain waters which didn't expect by our local government.

My family had recently moved to Marikina, and we weren't used to this kind of situation. All of us are unprepared for that kind of circumstance. As the rain intensifies, the alarm in our barangay starts to sound, alerting us that the river's water level has reached a critical point and that we should leave as soon as possible. However, we were still packing at that time because we weren't used to that kind of calamity. Marikina's river continues to rise to the point where we are unable to leave our location. We're trapped. And we don't know what to do.

Then, as a result, our neighbor invited us into their home's third floor and allowed us to stay there temporarily. We're terrified and still in disbelief at what's taking place. We believed that we were already secure and could comfortably sleep there. But we were wrong; the rain continues to fall heavily and continuously, and the water dams continue to release water, raising the level of the Marikina River. We continued calling any emergency hotline to be rescued, but we soon discovered that all rescuers was already assisting other stuck people.

Until what we more didn't expect happened.. the water already reached the third floor. And we don't have any higher floor to go up but only above the roof. The trauma then begins; some of us are already in tears since we are all unsure of what to do or where to go. But there is nothing we can do but to climb above the roof. When we step outside, the rain is still falling heavily, and because we are all soaked, we felt very cold. And from there, we witnessed a flood river and people standing on top of roofs. Most of them are screaming and calling out for assistance. We are terrified, and as I was only a child at the time, I am unable to provide my parents or our neighbor much assistance. However, my family is still fortunate since God connected us with wise and helpful people. With the use of some floating equipment and the assistance of persons who can swim, we were able to got out to that lower location and transferred to a higher floor.

This all happened overnight.

We remained there till dawn after getting to that higher floor. The flooding has subsided as the rain has stopped already when the daylight arrived. When we go home, everything has already been destroyed.

But to make the story short, we did managed to survive and all safe. We really learned a lot of lessons. Today, we are already moved on, and just thinking that day as a memories and a lesson, and promise ourselves that we will not experience that kind of situation ever again.

So the lesson that I learned to this kind of situation are:

1. Be ready at all times for any unforeseen calamity. When warning indicators are there, avoid becoming complacent, and pay attention to news broadcasts.
2. Be prepared to face the worst scenario.
3. Discipline and consideration for the environment. Because of this, I greatly enjoy actively taking part in volunteer activities that are related to nature.
4. Always be ready for anything. What nature will do next is unpredictable to us.
5. FULLY CHARGED CELLPHONES

I hope you learned something. And that's my #RememberSeptember blog contest entry. 😊

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