 |
| Heavy rains on Good Friday in Mangagoy, Surigao. |
For months, Mindanao has been experiencing heavy rains. My friends and I were talking about how different the weather is right now, compared to how it was before. For instance, during holy week, it's normally super hot all over the Philippines. It tells us that summer is just around the corner. But this year, we were in Surigao. And it rained on and off on Good Friday! That's just not normal. Not at all...
We don't have typhoons in Davao. The downtown areas get flooded though during heavy rains because of poor drainage system.
But flashflood, that's just impossible. That's why when it happened, everybody was surprised. Of course, it happened so fast, that the victims were not prepared. Hence, the death toll rose to 25 people and 15 people were missing. I was told that some bodies were found in Samal island.
Horror stories were shared to us by some victims. One of those deeply troubled me. She said that when the flood happened, the lights went off. It was so dark , they couldnt see anything. All they can hear of was the raging sound of the water. She also told us that her neighbor's son fell in the water. The father of course swam in the river to try to save his son. But both of them died. Hearing that from somebody who encountered such a tragedy was like being stabbed in the heart. I simply cannot imagine what I would do, faced with the same situation. I realized how lucky I am that I live on a higher ground...
Yesterday, we went to visit Matina Pangi. The people here suffered worst than most. I was so sad with what I saw. :( I have no words for it. So I'll share with you the photos I took...
 |
| A multicab and a pick up, under the house. |
 |
| Another car , on the road... |
 |
| This house came from somewhere else. |
 | ||||
Talomo River, after the flashflood. It looks so small now, but it was so deep it overflowed in the bridge.
As I write this, it's raining again. As I said, this has been going on and off for 6 months now. This is probably the effect of the global warming. Filipinos call this phenomenon, El Nina. And since most of our mountains have been "harvested" by the loggers, nothing can stop the water anymore. A few people got rich, and a lot of people has to suffer for their irresponsible action. So in the meantime, those who live in the lowlands will just have to deal with the consequences of someone else's actions...
I looked at our window, the wind is blowing and it's still raining hard. I can hear our roof pounding... But this is nature, there's nothing you and I can do. Except, pray that God will spare us from more flashfloods. Davao River is bigger than Talomo river. When I passed by there this morning, the water was higher than normal. I guess, it's raining in the mountains too. Again. I am thinking, where will the water go? Davao River is a continuation of Agusan River. Can you imagine if that will overflow? There's a 2000 hectare of marshland in Agusan. Where will all those water go? It's time to pray. That's the most important thing that we , Davaoenos, can do... For God to spare us from more tragedies. It's time to clean up the garbages. The ones in the rivers and the ones that clog the drainage system. It's time to fix and upgrade our drainage systems. This has been an old issue , so I am hoping that whatever plan the LGU has will be implemented soon. And it's time to plant more trees.. (Sidenote: For those who want to help the victims, you may bring rice, old clothes, canned goods, shoes, bags for the school kids, whatever have you, in our office. It's Allea Real Estate. Door B Tropicana Bldg., Km. 7 Lanang, Davao City, Philippines. Telephone No. 082-3051651.) Lea C. Walker www.davaoproperties.com |
