Epic Flooding in the Philippines

Last Thursday, Tropical Storm Ketsana (better known in the Philippines as Typhoon "Ondoy") entered the Philippine area of responsbility. It was not even a storm yet but a tropical depression. The next day Friday, it was declared a typhoon and signal no. 1 and 2 were raised in parts of Luzon including Metro Manila. However as it swept across Luzon on early Saturday morning, packing winds of 85 kilometers per hour, or 53 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour, "Ondoy" dumped 42.4 centimeters, or 16.7 inches, of rain in just 12 hours, said Nathaniel Cruz, the government’s chief weather forecaster. He said the rain that fell in those 12 hours was equivalent to the amount of rain that Manila received in the whole of September. To make matters worse, it was high tide and the water levels of 2 dams, Angat and Ipo were at critically high levels as well. By sunrise Metro Manila and it's environs were underwater. And for the first time, places that never flooded before were underwater ranging from ankle deep to as high as houses rooftops. Unlike the University of Santo Tomas in España Ext(my alma mater)which flooded all the time, the University of the East Medical Center (UERM) in Aurora Blvd would experience flooding from time to time but never as intense, as fast and as bad as this. Subdivisions like Provident Village in Marikina was under water and residents needed to be rescued from their rooftops, Valle Verde, Merville were also flooded. Business districts like Makati and Greenhills were also under water. Flood waters had risen so fast people did not have time to prepare....they could only try to save what they can and run to safety.

UERM Flashflood (video by Camille Magno)


UERM Aftermath (pictures by Rod Dizon)