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Experience.
August 6, 2012
- I woke up to get to work and noticed that its still raining, like what it usually does. Unaware of what the news says, I prepared to go to work, exchanged a couple of messages with my workmates asking if they’re coming to work so and they said yes so I decided to go too.
I arrived at NLEX and there’s heavy traffic right after Malinta exit. One of my friend/workmate Ritchie said she can’t go to work anymore since its already flooded near St. Luke’s and its impassable already. With the traffic ahead of me, I said to myself that I won’t go to work anymore if I can’t make it to LRT. There’s no way I’ll take the jeep to Tayuman since I don’t want to be stuck in traffic and stranded in flood.
So, I arrived 2 minutes to 10 in Monumento and said I can still go to work, so I did.
to cut the story short, we are 14 in our team and only 7 of us came. Some team only have 1 agent present and the rest doesn’t even have any.
August 7, 2012
- Shift is over, had a 30 minute Overtime. It was still raining hard and some people already said that some areas are flooded like tayuman, balintawak, monumento and NLEX is closed due to flood. I was really decided to go home. I don’t want to stay in the office without any clothes to change to. So my friends went to SM to buy slippers and I stayed behind with one of my teammate. So both of us decided that we are going to go home so we did. We walked the streets of tayuman, all flooded and dirty to get to the LRT station. when we arrived there, there are 4 other people from convergys that my workmate knows so we all went together since all of us will go home to Bulacan.
This is what it looks like from LRT station Tayuman. It may not show how flooded the streets are but I can only imagine how it looks like.
there were 4 of us and we divided into 2. I was with Christy and Gerro and the other girl (I don’t know her name) stayed in the bus terminal since that’s their main transpo to get home. Christy and I went to 7-11 monumento to check if there are jeepneys that may take us home but there’s none. We both decided that we’ll try Mc Arthur Highway. So we took a ride to mc arthur, the jeepney will only drop us by a certain area and we need to walk to reach another point which is Tullahan River.
The bridge was flooded. Chest deep surging water welcomed us along with other people waiting for a chance to get past that obstacle. We stayed there for a couple of minutes, observing when we saw to people who came from the other side said “Kahit makatawid kayo jan, sa tulay pag dating nyo dun lagpas jan sa may truck, wala pa din kayong madadaanan”
This is what it looks like in that area.
Ok. So Christy and I decided to go back to CVG and stay there for the night. we bought undies and pajamas. We went back to the bus terminal and Gerro and the other girl are still there waiting for a bus to take them home. they don’t want to go back with us so we left them there.
I haven’t eaten anything during this whole ordeal of looking for a way to get home. I remember drinking gatorade only. I wasn’t even feeling hungry but I know I’m tired and exhausted, my eyes are puffy due to lack of sleep. So, we cleaned ourselves and headed to sleep.
August 8, 2012
- I woke up around 5:30 in the morning and ate cup noodles and skyflakes at the pantry and watched news. It was still raining, some areas are flooded but I don’t have a clue if NLEX and Balintawak are passable already. Ritchie texted me saying Crisel, my friend and teammate was also stranded in CVG, at the 9th floor pantry. I went there to see her, and like me she haven’t changed into anything yet, and she wasn’t able to eat too. So we all hurriedly fixed ourselves and we headed home.
There were a lot of commuters in LRT during this day so Christy and I have high spirits that there’s transpo already and roads are passable. I alighted Monumento station and she, Balintawak. I was so glad to see that there’s a jeep waiting there that will take me to my place. I was half running because I don’t want to miss the chance to get home.
I was a happy camper when I sat in that jeep. It always feels good to know you are going home to your family.
Today is August 9, 2012, 6:42 AM and it’s still raining. There are a lot of flooded areas and its scary. I have a lot of friends that is affected by this bad weather and I’m praying for their safety. We all have been through this before and we can all make it out of this.
I know my experience is incomparable to what others may have encountered but this is the most unforgettable 3 days of my life.
God bless everyone. Keep Praying.
