Typhoon Ondoy, Bagyong Ondoy

September 26, 2009, Saturday, Philippines

My wife and I went to her office in Balagtas at around 12nn via NLEX (North Luzon Express Way) to attend an activity. We were confident that our place in Marilao will not be flooded; but since adjacent subdivisions can easily get submerged in water, we already made plans where we should pass or where we should stay should the roads be flooded.

With a canceled event, we went home before 3pm via Tabang NLEX again. By then, Balagtas Public Market was already in knee deep water. We were getting information from home that no jeepneys were already reaching our subdivision, since Meycauayan tollgate was already flooded. That was when we decided to stay in Petron NLEX to wait for the roads to be passable again. 

Finding a parking area in Petron proved to be a major challenge...that was also the time when we learned that even the Bocaue toll plaza was flooded. 

We were stranded at NLEX Petron gas station from 3pm of Sept 26 up to 1am of September 27.

This was the scenario:

...at 5:38pm

...gas station became a carpark...with buses!

...our last communication with our family (my mom, our 8-year old son, and two helpers) in Marilao was around 5pm...we're already getting so worried [of course]...

5:40pm

See those trucks?!  They were already parked along NLEX!

6:43pm

We stayed here in McDonalds (still in Petron gas station)

According to one of the employees of McDo, some of the crew for the next shift were not able to come to work due to to the flood.  So, this is their 2nd shift!!!

I would like to say that despite the circumstances they were still hospitable. While other restos closed earlier than scheduled, McDonalds continued with their 24 hour service. It was very commendable of the crew to stay smiling and alert while preparing orders, still shouting "Good evening Sir, Mam, welcome to McDonalds!"  in their lively tone. An order can be just a cup of coffee to as many as meals for a truck load of people or a group of children in a bus. Still, they were very generous with their smiles and apologies to their tensed and panicky customers.

People were also buying food, toothbrush, cigarettes in Treats since we all had the feeling that we will be spending the night here at NLEX.

In our case, we passed the 10 hours with nuggets, the burger we bought for lunch, PikNik, water, fries, spaghetti, hot chocolate and a magazine we read from cover to cover. In between, we would go to the restroom and get news alternately, so as not to lose the precious table we got.  My wife and I have 2 cellphones each, but both remained unable to contact our family at home. Every failed call proved to be a heartache for me and my wife, who is also carrying our second child. She would break into tears not knowing what was happening at home. Our only hope then was my brother who was traveling from Quezon City whom we could still contact, but was also stranded for hours in a bus in front of SM North.

As we walked around trying to relax and get news, we also got to learn a few stories of the people stranded with us. 

There was a group of people between Starbucks and McDonalds earlier browsing through their laptops for news of Bagyong Ondoy and having a blast with their music on and out loud through a speaker. They gave life to the place. According to them, their other companions traveled a few minutes earlier than they did, got through NLEX, and were now stranded along the road.

Later on, this group's batteries went down, so they packed their laptops and this became the scenario...

10:48pm A Chess tournament replaced the hi-tech scene earlier, and was exciting enough to capture the attention of many as they let the time (and water) pass.

A group of 4 senior gentlemen sitting near us came from a church event in Tarlac, and needed to travel back to Paranaque. Even if NLEX becomes passable, they still needed to travel along EDSA and to SLEX...another major challenge for them.

Another group went to a wedding in Malolos and insisted on going home to Manila. Their companion wore her dress as part of the bridal entourage the whole time they were stranded.

By 11:30 pm, we received a call from my brother telling us that Meycauayan is now passable, and that he is now safely home with my mom and son. Tears of relief and joy welled up my wife's eyes as we said prayers of thanks for keeping them safe.

12:16am

We were told that after approximately 30mins,  Bocaue and Meycauayan NLEX area could be passable already!  So, we bought food for my mom, my son, and my brother  who were waiting for us in Marilao.

Initially, the buses and trucks went on to travel. Like the dove in Noah's ark, we all waited in case they came back. After a few minutes, vans and SUVs came out next, followed by a brave taxi cab...the cab went back. Another few minutes passed, and  the taxi cab went out again, this time, he was a successful risk taker.

We made more minutes pass, and by 1am, we decided to travel along NLEX. We reached home after 2 hours of what usually was a fifteen-minute drive, but we're still thankful to the Lord for keeping us safe.