'Ondoy' like 'Katrina'
By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star) Updated September 27, 2009 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Tropical storm “Ondoy” (international name: Ketsana) yesterday battered Luzon,
leaving Metro Manila and 25 provinces in a state of calamity. Initial reports said at least 14 people were killed
after nearly a day of continuous heavy rains.
Extensive flooding in the metropolis that forced thousands out of their homes and turned many areas into
virtual lakes drew comparison with hurricane “Katrina” which devastated the southern United States city of
New Orleans in August 2005. As Katrina pounded New Orleans, levees broke and about 80 percent of the
city was flooded, killing over 1,800 people and leaving damage estimated at more than $100 billion.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., who is also chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council
(NDCC) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), said a state of calamity has been declared in Metro Manila as
rains brought by Ondoy caused the worst flooding in the capital in more than 20 years.
Teodoro also said the provinces of Aurora, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan have been
placed under a state of calamity, as were the provinces of Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga, Bulacan, Rizal,
Quezon, Isabela, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro
Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, and Bataan .
The OCD initially reported three people, including a four-year-old girl, were killed when a wall, weakened by
floodwaters, collapsed on their shanty along NAIA Road in Barangay Piñahan in Quezon City.
The victims were identified as Marlon Tahanap and his four-year-old daughter Jannah, and Gina Tingkang.
Initial reports also said three other people drowned in Quezon City.
Three people were also killed in Muntinlupa City, according to the NDCC.
One was reportedly electrocuted in Vito Cruz, Manila while three others were swept away by rampaging
waters of a swollen river outside the capital, initial reports said.
One was reported killed in Calaca, Batangas after being pinned down by a falling tree.
Over 1,800 people were forced to flee their homes and take refuge in evacuation centers due to rising
waters, the OCD said.
Flooding was reported in many districts, with waters in some areas reaching as high as the rooftops of one-
story buildings.
Power outages were also reported in many parts of the metropolis.
‘One month’s worth of rain’
Ondoy, with winds of 85 kilometers per hour and gusts of 100 kph, hit the provinces of Aurora and Quezon at
around 11 a.m. yesterday, then moved through Central Luzon at 19 kph, the state weather bureau said.
Government weather forecaster Gener Quitlong said the equivalent of one month’s worth of rain fell on Metro
Manila in less than a day.
“We knew there would be rain but not like this,” Quitlong said.
About 34.1 centimeters of rain fell on Metro Manila in just six hours, close to the 39.2-centimeter average for
the entire month of September.
The previous record was 33.4 centimeters recorded during a 24-hour period in June 1967, according to chief
government weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz.
“However good your drainage system is, it will be overwhelmed by that amount of rainfall,” he said.
The heavy rains also forced one of the three airport terminals in Manila to cancel and divert flights after
flooding affected its electrical system.
The storm also forced the cancellation of sea travel, leaving thousands of commuters stranded in the
southern Tagalog and Bicol regions.
Huge traffic jams clogged the roads in the metropolis as floodwaters caused many vehicles to stall.
Main thoroughfares such as EDSA, the North and South Luzon expressways, the MacArthur Highway going
to Malabon, Valenzuela and Bulacan, Quezon Avenue, España in Manila, Araneta Avenue and Aurora
Boulevard in Quezon City and Taft Avenue in Manila were impassable to all types of vehicles.
Communications also bogged down in several areas in the metropolis.
Teodoro said the widespread flooding in Metro Manila prompted him to take the MRT to get to the NDCC and
OCD offices at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Teodoro appealed over the radio to motorists to leave their vehicles at home and take the MRT and LRT
commuter trains, which were kept operating for 24 hours.
The lack of rescue equipment and the traffic gridlock in most streets in the metropolis greatly hampered
rescue and relief efforts.
The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) said they encountered difficulty in their relief efforts because of
the stalled vehicles blocking the already flooded streets.
President Arroyo rode in a military truck but got stuck in a traffic jam and was forced to take the MRT to Camp
Aguinaldo.
Mrs. Arroyo called for sobriety and appealed for assistance to the needy.
‘Most heartbreaking’
Teodoro, for his part, said all rescue and relief efforts have been focused on Pasig City, the Provident Village
in Marikina and Cainta, Rizal following reports of massive floods and landslides in these areas.
The mayor of Cainta, Mon Ilagan, who was stranded atop a dump truck on a road that was heavily flooded,
told ABS-CBN television by phone that many residents climbed onto roofs to escape.
“The whole town is almost 100 percent underwater,” Ilagan said.
ABS-CBN television also showed a dramatic video of more than a dozen people perched on roofs of
damaged houses being swept away by the suburban Marikina River. They smashed against the pillars of a
bridge and were separated from each other in the rampaging river. It was unclear whether they were
rescued.
“It’s everywhere. We are monitoring flooding in different areas in Rizal and in the National Capital Region
right now,” added Anthony Golez, OCD officer-in-charge.
Teodoro tasked the military and the Philippine National Police (PNP), along with the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA), to mobilize available trucks and amphibian vehicles to rescue stranded
commuters and residents.
In a radio broadcast, Teodoro advised the public that “if you are on the roof, don’t try to leave. Just remain
there on the roof and we will do everything to rescue you.”
Radio reports also said thousands of students were forced to spend the night in their classrooms.
Local officials interviewed on radio said they were preparing to evacuate more of their residents.
Residents in a flooded area were seen rescuing children from rooftops by placing them in inflated inner
tubes and bringing them to higher ground.
“This is the first time in 30 years that I experienced this kind of flooding. Only now did my house get flooded,”
remarked Nenita San Andres whose house in Sampaloc, Manila is located in a higher area in the district.
US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said she witnessed what she described as the most heartbreaking scenes.
“The damage this storm has caused is heartbreaking,” Kenney remarked, as she donated $50,000 in
immediate disaster relief assistance.
Teodoro reported that 33 barangays in Metro Manila suffered the worst flooding in recent years. These
barangays are located in Marikina, Malabon, Muntinlupa, Quezon City, Makati, Pasay City, Pasig, San Juan
and Valenzuela City, where its 32 barangays were submerged.
Officials of the flood-prone city of Malabon reported some 400 people were forced to move to their rooftops in
the afternoon during the height of the storm.
Pasay City officials, meanwhile, reported some 12,000 families had been relocated.
Outside of Metro Manila, the towns of Sasmuan, Apalit, San Luis, Sta. Ana, Guagua, Mexico, Candaba,
Arayat, Macabebe, and Masantol and the City of San Fernando in Pampanga were flooded as water was
released to ease pressure on the Angat Dam.
A total of 31 barangays in Bulacan were also flooded, provincial disaster officials reported yesterday.
Provinces in Central Luzon also sustained damage from the incessant rains brought about by Ondoy.
The storm is expected to move west before exiting the country early today. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Rhodina
Villanueva, Jerry Botial, Dino Balabo, Ric Sapnu, Evelyn Macairan, Charlie Lagasca, Mike Frialde, Arnell
Ozaeta and AP
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