Typhoon Ondoy

Typhoon Ondoy started with strong rainfalls night on September 25 2009. Many under-estimated its strength. Unexpectedly, downpours began that may compare to a month rainfalls. Many were stranded along the way but what the saddest happening when missing persons and death arises. Personal Story:

We were about to rescue some of our friends In Timog area of Quezon City when we were being trapped by the floodway along the Philcoa area to Quezon City Circle. The water went up till I could walk no more..We decided to go back but there were no means of transportation but to walk. But on the way back home, cars were already driven away by the flood and people were screaming to be rescrued..We were just lucky that our area was little higher so we could go home safe. When we turned on the TV to watch news, it was announced and aired that affected areas are : COMMONWEALTH VILL., OLD BALARA, FILINVEST I & II, VISTA REAL, BATASAN HILLS, MAPAYAPA I,II,III and its neighboring Villages,… AFFECTED AREAS : Quezon City, Taytay Rizal, Marikina City, Ortigas Extension, Pasig City, San Jose Del Monte, Montalban Rizal and more in the provincial areas of Luzon. A lot of people died and some are still missing. Many homes have gone wasted. Reports that missing people tried to escape the flooded area but were trapped in the middle of the sea like flood in the vicinity of Marikina and Rizal.. The Government tried sending rescues but were also trapped by the bumper to bumper traffic. It was flooded along the way.. With all these, it showed that our country is not ready to face these kind of disaster due to its lack of facilities and rescuers are being outnumbered by the affected areas.

Tropical Storm Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) produced record rainfall and floods in September 2009. At the height of the storm, a state of calamity was declared in Metro Manila and in 25 different provinces, including Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija,Pangasinan, Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal, Quezon, Isabela, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Ilocos Sur,Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, and Bataan. [1]

At least 609,548 people were displaced by flood waters and had to stay in makeshift evacuation centers in schools and churches. 240 people, mostly from the National Capital Region, were killed. 319,881 families or 1,872,036 people were affected by the storm. In addition, damages to infrastructures and agriculture in Luzon amounted to more than P2 billion. [9]

ndoy was first spotted 130 kilometers (km) east southeast of Baler, Aurora or 90 km northeast of Infanta, Quezon. It moved northwest, bringing severe rainfall across Southern Luzon and Central Luzon as it made its way towards the South China Sea. [3] The tropical storm made landfall in the morning of September 26, 2009, lasting through the night until September 27. In the 12 hours of continuous rainfall, flood waters rose up to waist level or higher in many different areas throughout Luzon, especially within the Metro. Entire streets and villages in Bataan, Bulacan, Makati, Malabon, Manila, Paranaque, Pasay, Quezon City, Antipolo, Cainta, Montalban, San Juan,San Mateo, Taguig and Valenzuela were completely submerged. [6] Rizal and Marikina were particularly affected, with the sides of buildings left caked by the mud which mixed with the flood. [4]

The rising water level rendered roadways around Metro Manila impassible. Traffic jammed up main thoroughfares like EDSA, the North and South Luzon expressways, MacArthur Highway, Quezon Avenue, España, Araneta Avenue, Aurora Boulevard and Taft Avenue. [5] Residential areas were also fraught with flood. Numerous reports came in of people being forced to climb to their roofs for safety. In some areas, houses had to be abandoned altogether for fear of the rising water level. Numerous fatalities occurred due to drowning, landslides and the sudden collapse of structures which were weakened by the storm. Some people were also swept away by the current of floodwater that had welled up from rivers to the streets. [7] According to PAGASA, 455 millimeters of rainfall poured down on Luzon, making the floods that arose the worst recorded in the history of the weather bureau. [8] The previous record for a single day’s worth of rainfall in Metro Manila was in 1967, at 331 millimeters. The amount of rainfall brought by Ondoy also beat the monthly average of rainfall for the month of September, which is at 391 millimeters.

Ondoy’ death toll passes 300 mark
By MANILA BULLETIN NEWS TEAM
September 29, 2009, 7:07pm

The body of a young man was recovered from his house which collapsed due to flashfloods from a nearby creek on Agham Road in Quezon City. Two of five people who were trapped under cement walls died. (Photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ) Sixteen more bodies believed to be victims of typhoon “Ondoy” were recovered in Metro Manila and nearby provinces on Tuesday, bringing the unofficial death tally from the devastating flood to more 300 than according to the Manila Bulletin tally. Half of the new fatalities were recovered from Laguna de Bay, where they were believed carried away by rampaging flood waters that hit the capital and nearby provinces Saturday. In Cavite, three more fatalities were recorded yesterday, bringing to five the total of Ondoy-related deaths in the province. In Quezon City, five more victims were recovered. They were all previously listed as missing. Last Monday, the Manila Bulletin’s unofficial death tally was at 288. With the 16 new deaths reported on Tuesday, the total now stands at 304. Rizal province posted the highest number of casualties at 98, with its neighboring province of Bulacan following with a death toll of 30.

In Laguna, five civilians and one soldier — Pfc. Venancio Ancheta — were reported killed. Six more military men were lost to the rescue operations in other hard hit areas. Cavite earlier reported two deaths, while Batangas and Quezon province both recorded one death each. In Pampanga, 12 residents were killed following a landslide near the foot of Mt. Arayat last Saturday. A total of 2,000 residents of the small community were affected by the disaster. It was the first time such an event happened, according to residents. In Benguet, a three-year-old child perished after a portion of their house was buried in a landslide as the hill located close to their house suddenly eroded while they were having dinner. Her body was recovered several hours after the incident. Another death was posted in Kabugay, Apayao in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

In Metro Manila, Marikina was the hardest hit by disaster after the death toll reached 75. Of the bodies recovered by the police, 59 were taken from Provident Village, where flooding forced residents to climb their roofs to await rescue. Malabon posted four confirmed deaths, including a drowned 74-year-old woman and an elderly man who suffered from a heart attack inside an evacuation center. Two others remained missing as of press time Monday. Meanwhile, 20 people were killed in Pasig City, mostly carried away by strong currents at the height of the storm. Flooding has partially subsided since Saturday. The Quezon City Police District earlier reported 28 deaths after they recovered bodies of civilians dragged by strong flashfloods in Barangay Bagong Silangan. All of the victims have been identified, but 52 persons were reported missing, and the five bodies recovered yesterday were among those in the missing list. Based on the National Disaster Coordinating Committee (NDCC) records, Muntinlupa suffered three deaths and San Juan posted a single fatality. (Reports from Anthony Giron, Ellson Quismorio, and Jeffrey Damicog)