Typhoon 2009

Nobody was expecting a months worth of rain to be dropped in 24 hours but it happened. When the rains started that Friday night we didn’t think anything of it. We are in rainy season so we are used to rain coming down all day long for several days in a row. The difference this time, was how hard it came down. I didn’t even know we were in a typhoon. There was no wind, just tons of rain. On Saturday, the street in front of our house looked like white water rapids. The water was easily 6 inches deep as it rushed past our gate and down the hill. We lost power around 3:00 PM, it was daylight still so we just kept doing things without power. The main streets of Antipolo were flooded with neck high waters. For the next 24 hours, we remained trapped in our house with no power. Thankfully, our house and the clinic suffered no water damage because of there location on the mountain side.

While all of this was going on, our neighbors (the Ortiz family – Mom, Dad and three kids under 10) were in Manila visiting with a friend who was in town for Compassion International. They tried to come back to Antipolo but found the roads flooded and impassable. They ended up staying the night in their friend’s hotel room. The kids liked it since they had cable TV but mom and dad were stressed out about how to get home! They had to stay another night in Manila at a missionary’s house before they could get through on Monday. When they finally got back they showed us pictures of the devastation. On Ortigas, the road we most often take into Manila, the flood waters reached the second floor of many houses (18-25 ft high). The military was helping with rescue operations so there were tanks and other military vehicles lining the streets. Some of the Ortiz extended family lived in that area and they lost everything. The other road, Marcos Highway, that takes you to Antipolo was flooded also. People were being ferried back and forth on boats. One missionary had to get on a boat to get to the hospital where their daughter was suffering from appendicitis. The entire missionary community was a buzz with talk of all the flooding and how they can help. Many missionaries had to, first, take care of there own flooded homes before they could help others.

By Monday night, we had our power back and we were working to figure out how we could help. Hundreds of thousands of people had been displaced from their homes and Val knew that many more would soon be getting sick from all the contaminated water. We had heard of a couple of places in the province that were hit pretty hard with land slides so the clinic planned a trip to the province to provide medical relief. Manila was getting a lot of press and assistance, so we felt we could help most in the areas not so visible to the media. On Wednesday, the clinic staff met and discussed where to go on Thursday to help. We sorted medical and food supplies that we would load first thing in the morning.

Thursday morning we drove about 45 minutes outside Antipolo to an area called Baras. As we drove out we passed bulldozers working to remove mud and debris from the roads. Our destination was a small daycare building where several families were living that lost everything in the flood. One family there lost a total of 8 family members (this is the family that we wrote about in our newsletter). The family took us to the site where their houses use to stand. They said it was a small creek before the flood, but now it was a raging river. You would have never known that houses had stood there - the area was bare. Everything had been washed away! The team treated several families that were still in that area, using a covered porch of one shack as the medical area. After treating these people, we returned to the daycare building to treat the other families there. Word had gotten out that a medical team was in the area and soon there were crowds of people seeking medical care. One group gave out tetanus shoots to the men dredging the river for bodies while the other group gave medical care to the women and children. In a few hours we had exhausted our medical supplies and told many patients to come by the clinic the next day and they would be seen there. Before we left, we passed out some food and cooking oil and then we prayed with the families who lost everything. It was a very emotional day. We all debriefed over a late lunch and then headed back to the clinic to unpack.

Since then, many of the patients have returned for follow-up visits and they are doing better. There are still many people with needs in the area and we are seeking Gods guidance as to how we can be His hands and feet in this crisis. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers during this disaster.

An Accident Waiting to Happen

We had our first car accident. Given how crazy traffic is here, I knew this day would come. We were driving down Marcos Highway, in the center lane, and a Jeepney side swiped us as it was pulling back onto the highway after picking up some passengers. The entire passenger side of our van had scrape marks and the front fender was really dented and the bumper was partially pulled off. We both stopped and got out of our vehicles to inspect the damage. Of course, the Jeepney had no visible damaged because of its thick cast iron bumper, so he said it was my fault and began to drive away. I told him to stop because it was his fault and I needed a police report (at this time that was all I thought I would need). About a block away was a Marakina police checkpoint. I ran over to it and asked the officer if he could assist us. This entire time, our van was in the middle of the highway with Val and Faith waiting patiently inside. The officer came over and talked with both of us. He told us that we were out of Marikina jurisdiction and were in Antipolo jurisdiction so he took us back to his checkpoint and wrote out his report in the checkpoint journal. He then told us to follow him to the Antipolo police checkpoint and he gave me the Jeepney driver’s license since he could see that I was worried about him leaving the scene.

We arrived at the Antipolo police checkpoint to find it empty. We waited there for about an hour for the Antipolo officer to come -- but none did. About two and a half hours had passed by now and Faith had to go to the bathroom. Valerie took Faith out of the car and walked her about two blocks up the street, in heavy traffic, to a McDonalds. Right when they were out of sight, the Marikina officer told us to go to the Antipolo police station in town. The Jeepney driver was about to leave when I rushed over and told them that my wife and daughter were in the CR (bathroom) and asked him to please wait, since I had to follow him to the station. Moments later, Val and Faith returned and we piled in our car and followed the Jeepney driver to the Antipolo police station. At the Antipolo police station we learned that the section of highway where the accident occurred was actually Cainta jurisdiction and not Antipolo (AARGH!!) The Antipolo officer also tried to convince us to let the Jeepney driver go and just let the insurance company deal with it (it was obvious that the officer knew the driver since they were very friendly when they greeted each other). I explained to the officer that I needed the police report in order to let the insurance deal with it and he directed us to the Cainta police building.

We arrived at the Cainta police station about three and a half hours after initial impact (Have I ever mentioned that things don’t go fast here?) We explained to the officer what happened. By this time the Jeepney driver’s wife had caught up with us and was trying to explain to the officer what happened. This upset Valerie since she wasn’t even at the scene of the accident and Valerie let the officer and the woman know that it was not her place to even talk about the accident since she was not there during it. The officer went and looked at the vehicles and Valerie explained to the officer how the damage done to our car (the bumper being pulled off) could not have happened if we hit him. If we hit him -- our bumper would have been pushed in, not pulled off. The officer agreed with us and we went back in and he made out the report. The officer tried his best to speak in English and did a pretty good job. He later joked that he was going to get a nose bleed from all the English he was speaking. During all of this, Valerie had called our insurance company and we knew that we needed a copy of the police report, a copy of the Jeepney driver’s license and registration, a copy of his insurance and the name and contact number for the owner of the Jeepney. We got all of this information together while the officer finished writing his report in the daily journal (no computers or copiers in the police station). The officer returned all the original paperwork to each of us and told me that I could come back at midnight to pick up the police report (WHAT!). He explained that he would need time to type the report and that he should be able to get it done by then. I asked if I could come early in the morning instead and he said I could come at 6:00 AM. We took our copied material and finally headed home (Five hours later!). By the way….Faith was great throughout this entire ordeal.

The next morning I picked up the report and that following Monday I met with our insurance. Three months later we finally have the van fixed, fortunately it was still drivable after the accident. Needless to say, I’m a little skittish when a Jeepney pulls up next to me now.