after the storm...

... was devastation and mud.

Hindi naman lingid sa kaalaman ng karamihan na ang Iloilo ay dinaanan ni "Frank". Two days ago, the storm came in all its fury, without warning, without mercy. First came the winds, and then the rains, and then the floods. And after all of these have passed, there was devastation and mud.

Last Saturday, i woke up at 6am and prepared to go on duty. As i left the house, mejo may konting baha na sa street namin pero hanggang ankles pa lng siguro. The rain wasn't very strong, kaya pa. Nakapasok pa kami lahat sa duty. That afternoon, the rains and the winds picked up. Wala kaming kamu-ang-muang sa hospital kase kami may koryente, may tubig, at madami kaming ginagawa. Pero nung pauwi na kami, malakas na talaga ung ulan and we have been receiving news the entire day that all over Iloilo there have been floods and roads were being closed as the dam from somewhere was opened or may nag-leak (di ko sure). Some of our classmates' homes were already under water and two of our classmates last send a message that they were on the roofs of their houses. Basta sure ako na blackout din sa buong iloilo because the whole day naka-generator lang ung hospital. Anyway, at about 630pm, uuwi na dapat ako when the doctors tried to dissuade me from going home kase nga baha na. I reasoned out that katabi lng naman ng hospital ung house namin so i was going to go home since i go on 24hours duty the next day and i had to get home to sleep and prepare for that.

Anyway, hindi ako nakinig so matatanda so i went home. As i left the hospital grounds, lumusong ako sa baha na nagmistulang chocolate river na hanngang singit ko ang lalim. I arrived at the ivhome (my house) basang-basa and hanggang tuhod ang tubig sa loob ng bahay. The water was up to the second step of the stairs. The fridge was on the second floor landing at binuhat sya ng tatlo kong housemates na girls! That's adrenaline for you! Hehe. So un, ang buong street ay baha, at ang bahay ay baha. We had no electricity, my housemates had not had anything to eat since lunch, and we had no drinking water as well as tap water kase electric pump ang nagbibigay ng tubig sa bahay namin.

The next day, duty ko sa hospital. Buti na lng ay humupa na ang baha at tumigil na rin ang ulan. But everywhere, there was a chocolate coating. Sa loob ng bahay, sa street, sa mga sasakyan... putik everywhere. When I got to the hospital we heard the reports (kase wala din kaming radio sa ivhome). We had doctors whose houses were under water. Madami sa kanila ang wala nang natira sa mga gamit, mga books and kailangan talagang mag-start from scratch. A number of our friends got stranded at SM and had to sleep the night there. Sa sahig na lng daw sila natulog. Ang iba naming classmates may mga sugat-sugat and had to receive prophylaxis for leptospirosis and tetanus. An iv student lost her family (they live in antique). Madaming mga patients sa hospital that Sunday. Most lost their homes, their families, their cows, their livelihood, their everything. Madaming nakatapak sa mga broken glass, mga nails, nabagsakan ng kung ano-ano. May mga kotse sa parking lot na nabagsakan ng mga branches ng puno... may mga puno din na na-uproot.

Grabe.... grabe ang pagdaan ng bagyo. Hindi naka-prepare ang mga tao. And until now, most are still trying to recover what they can from the wreckage. But most will not be able to recover anything.

Thank you for all those who remembered to ask me how we are. Thank you for praying. We're fine here sa ivhome. I haven't been able to answer kase busy... Nag-short circuit lng ung isang line namin so walang koryente sa first floor na house and sa room ni Nang Dindin... We also have to clean the house pa kase the entire first floor is chocolate coated. Other than that, we're ok. Please continue to pray for all the others who were greatly affected by the storm. Iloilo was really devastated. Marami kaming kilala na wala nang mga bahay, wala nang mga damit na tuyo, wala nang mga damit talaga, wala nang mga gamit, no books, no household stuff, nothing. Pray for the Lord's provision and pray that they will turn to the Lord because of or in spite of, this.