In the Philippines, flooding after heavy rains is close to normal. But this August's monsoon rains and floods taught me a lot on emergency preparedness, finding joy in awful circumstances and waiting.
Emergency Preparedness
August 7, 2012 (4:15 am)
"Ma, nasa garahe na yung tubig. Malapit na pumasok na sa loob ng bahay!" (Ma, the water has reached the garage. It's almost inside the house!") my youngest brother Nikolai blurted out at the wee hours of that rainy morning.
I heard him in the middle of dreams and wakefulness. I bolted up from my bed and ran to the front door. I saw slippers swimming in the garage and knew he wasn't over-reacting.
One of the things I learned from the Emergency Preparedness and Response Training I attended at Victory Greenhills last month is this: Keep a whistle on-hand.
In terms of emergency response, a whistle is used to call attention to lead a group of people to safety or a team to act in behalf of the victims. It's also for calling attention if you're the one who needs rescue. Remember Rose was rescued at the end of the movie?
As for me, I used this to wake up the whole household. ;)
In split seconds, my family, in our zombies-out-of-bed-looks, was all standing at the sala watching as flood water licked our doorstep. And you want to know what was our first move in times like that?
Pray. With the moment's level of urgency, we could have ran back to our rooms to ransack our closets. But the most important thing one must do is to pray and ask for God's protection from harm, wisdom to act and faith to believe that everything will be fine.
After approximately one hour of evacuating our belongings to the second floor, we -- my mother, my sister, my two brothers, my two pamangkins (my neice and my nephew), my yaya (okay, Neil's yaya) and I -- we're huddled at the second floor, watching news. Our basic needs like food, water, medicines, clothes and candles were all secured with us.
Another lesson from the training is to ALWAYS stock up on your
emergency kit. The kit contains:
1. Food supply good for one week for the
whole family – these are instant and canned goods, we’re not sure if we’d be
able to cook. And frozen goods will only last for maximum of 2 days in room
temp
2. Drinking water – a normal human being can
last up to 3 weeks without food but die of thirst in 3 days
3. First aid kit – self-explanatory; I also
suggest to stock up on Vitamin C to help boost immune system. Sodium ascorbate
is safe to take on an empty stomach.
4. Clothes – for hygiene purposes; of course,
you need to change just in case you get soaked in the rain
5. Flash light (with extra batteries) and/or
candles – in times of heavy rains and flooding, don’t take the risk of NOT
pulling down your power breaker; water is a good conductor of electricity
6. Protective gears - examples are boots, rain coats, umbrella, etc.; just in case you really have to go through the flood
Did we have all these? Shamefully, no. Thankfully, though, we have
school children and with that, the most responsible thing every household
head must do is to stock up food supplies.
Will these guarantee our safety and survival? No. But God is
calling is to break our Pinoy bahala-na mindsets and act responsibly.
Joy in all circumstances
With no electricity, rain pouring, flood getting higher every
hour, our activities consisted of eating, sleeping, meditating on God’s word,
praying, waiting and we go back to eating.
You might be wondering, where is Neil? The day before the flood
crept all over Metro Manila, I receive a call from Neil’s grandparents. Classes
were suspended so they picked him up from school, brought him home and
picked him up again to attend a classmate’s birthday party. Night fell and it
was still raining cats and dogs, so they called again to inform me that Neil
would be staying with them for the night.
One thing in my mind: “Thank God Neil is not here.”
Even if things don’t go as we expected, God still has our best in
His mind.
The most beautiful thing that happened during the three days out-pour was our family’s bond got tighter. With nothing but the candle light to
illuminate our storm-sick faces, my siblings and I reminisced about our wacky childhood
adventures and misadventures. Our stomachs ached in laughter as we played games
like “Dugtungan-ng-Kanta”, “P.A.N.T.S.” and our made-up game “Random Signages”.
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| My sister with the flood scenario as background |
If you’re familiar with these games, you know how hilarious it can
get. In PANTS, you have to come up with Places, Animals, Name, Things and (we
added) Veggies/Fruits that start with the given letter. Two game highlights:
1. Veggies/Fruits starting with N: Nabubulok
na Saging
2. Animal starting with P: Patay na daga
My brothers are crazy and weird to some extent, but I learned to
love them more after this experience.
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| Relief operations c/o Bgy. Dela Paz Kagawads |
On our second day, our neighbours were crying out for
relief goods. We thought, "buti na lang may supplies pa tayo" (Good thing, we
still have supplies here).
But rain kept on pouring that day so by night, we
were running low. Kuya braved through the murky chest-deep flood to get out and
buy more food.
Before, I always thought he was stoic and apathetic but his words echoed
in my heart. “Tingin niyo papayag ako na magkaganyan tayo?” (Do you think I’d
let that happen to us?) Pertaining to our neighbour crying out for food.
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| My Hero Kuya |
Waiting on Jesus
I’ll always remember that midnight when the candle lights are out
and the family has gone to our cots.
Rain was pounding on the roof like there’s no tomorrow. It was
pitch black outside. I strained to assess the flood level. It has gone up! And with
this kind of torrent, I thought, water may get higher overnight.
What if we’re not safe on the second floor anymore? Do I need to
call for rescue now? Can we climb up the roof? We have enough umbrellas to
cover our heads until rescue comes.
These are the desperate thoughts racing through my fear-stricken
mind. I went back to bed, trying to drown out the roars of thunder. I heard
some sniffling. It’s my younger brother, Nikolai. He was panicking, too. Mama
sat up on her bed when she sensed that we’re agitated. She reassured us that
Jesus is covering us under His wings of protection. But I was still afraid. I,
who was so brave to lead the prayer and evacuation, who posted in my Facebook
status that God is in control earlier that day, was trembling in fear.
I remembered when Jesus’ disciples woke Him up as huge waves
slapped every sides of the boat. Like they did, I panicked close to
desperation. I imagined Jesus telling me, “You, of little faith. Why did you
doubt?”
It’s okay to be afraid and tell God. He wants us to run to Him for
comfort. I cried out. Tears choked back the words so Mama continued the prayer.
Together, we asked for His divine intervention and declared that He is
sovereign. I asked that He would increase my dwindling faith. Then, like a warm
blanket on a freezing night, the peace that transcends all understanding
pacified my terrified soul.
In a tiny, broken voice, I began singing:
“When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will soar with You
above the storm. Father, You are King over the flood. I will be still, know You
are God.”
Mama and Nikolai joined me in singing. In the dark, water rising
outside every minute, we sang praises to the only one God of the universe, to
Jesus, the name above all other names.
After five minutes, we heard the rain hushing down to stop.
When we see the sun shining, it’s easy to praise Jesus and say He
is good. But in dark and stormy nights, are you willing to trust Him to bring
you through?
In our life, we will encounter many storms, be it literal or not. Learn
to depend on God’s grace. Ask and believe for Him to show us that He is mighty
and sovereign. Let Him be the anchor that will hold you safe and secure in
stormy seasons.
Faith believes that beyond these relentless dark clouds the Son is
waiting to pierce through with His Light.
