Waterworld

I grew up used to the annual rainy season floods. We lived in a residential area in Quezon City which was close to a creek, so naturally, we expected to be inundated regularly.

My younger sisters and I never really played in floods, unlike our older siblings and cousins who use to ride salbabidas (tire interiors) and frolic around in an expanded “public pool” in the late 60s and early 70s. Of course, the creek waters coming from as far away as Marikina were not as filled with assorted trash and garbage as they became during my time.

My sisters and I learned early on to watch out for heavy rains. At night, while everyone else was enjoying the cool weather brought about by rainfall and sleeping so soundly, we were programmed to listen to the intensity of the rainfall and to determine just how much rain has already fallen in a certain period of time. Thus, it became automatic for all of us in our household: we listened for the neighbors nearest the creeks, our dogs barking and warning us of rising waters in our garage.

We knew how to open the gates at the perfect time to keep the waters from trapping us inside our own home and before it becomes impossible to move it against the water pressure. We had to move our cars to higher ground, just a few blocks away, as soon as the water reaches half the tires and before it gets above the muffler. We also got to our dogs just in time to take them to safety lest they drown in our yard.

Inside our house, we had devised a system for raising our various furniture and electrical appliances. Mostly females, we relied on our body strength and adrenalin to put the sofa, the stove-oven, even the refrigerator on chairs or beer cases. Two-by-two we worked; one hand on the furniture and the other, to stuff something under it as quickly as possible and bring it up. Our mayordoma could even carry a whole sack of rice by herself without any help.

Besides listening to the rain, opening the gates in time, and having a system for raising household things, my father had other tips for us. Once the water level comes up to the electrical sockets, head for the fusebox and turn down the switch to prevent electrocution. It was also advisable to keep bottles of dangerous chemicals from being submerged and mixing with the water. Such contaminants could be more harmful than dirty floodwater to human skin if you’re still wading around.

Speaking of pollutants on skin, make sure you bathe and wash really well after frolicking in floodwaters. You can even use alcohol just to disinfect your body. Besides garbage and other refuse, sometimes human or animal waste floats around in the water too. Nobody wants to catch cholera or leptospirosis (that disease that comes from rat waste), much less die from it.

Floods seem inevitable in Manila, so we might as well learn to prepare for it and cope with it the best way we can. But while we can do our best to salvage whatever belongings we have, it’s our safety and well-being that should be our utmost concern always.