Firstperson: 'Our House Quickly Became a Refugee Camp'

[Louisiana1976]

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MANILA, Philippines - Cleaning and clearing operations are in full swing in many places in Manila, including my family’s house, which got submerged in 14 feet of water on Sept. 26. I will forever remember this as one of the most harrowing days of my life.

I did not sleep on the eve of the disaster, since I've taken to spending nights writing and revising my dissertation. I remember the relentless downpour and the unusually loud croaking of bullfrogs outside my window (in hindsight, the animals were probably sounding off about the impending deluge). I continued working until sleep mercifully took me over at 7 a.m. Four hours later, I woke up to the sound of my family frantically yelling. “May baha (There’s a flood),” my niece gravely told me. I stepped out of my bedroom and gasped at the sight of furniture floating around in our garden.

At first I thought that the wall separating our garden from the creek behind our house had cracked. I would later find out that someone had opened the La Mesa Dam, which is located near my neighborhood. The dam was opened to prevent it from breaking, but the downpour and the water left 80 percent of Manila submerged in less than six hours.

It was so surreal to see the murky brown waters quickly rising until they were a foot shy of the second floor of our home. My older sister told me to start carrying some my things to our covered rooftop, which also serves as the top floor of our home. I was hoping that the floodwaters would stop rising, but I acted quickly: I grabbed my laptop, printer, camera, cell phone, other electronic devices, sacred dissertation materials, personal documents, diplomas, photo albums and picture frames.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33180009/ns/world_news-asiapacific/