A Blessing.
On the day before, my class had its class night (a night every year when all of us would bring sleeping bags and would sleep in school overnight). I ended up not sleeping for the entire night (which usually happens every class night that i have) because i keep on talking with my friends, playing poker with them, or simply having fun like playing basketball. The next morning, at 6 am, my folks picked me up and we went to my brother's school to attend to his fellowship day. Before we left the school to go home, the rain started.
Once we already left at 10 am, it was raining very hard already. we had a hard time getting to the car because of the rain. Once in the car, i already witnessed the terrible things that had happened because of the storm. Many roads were already flooded waist-deep (some even neck-deep) and there was immense traffic. because of my wariness from not sleeping on the previous night, i slept in the car at around 10:15 am. When i woke up, we were already in a different place, but we were still in heavy traffic. I looked at my phone and noticed that it was already 4:40pm. I had slept for over 6 hours. I ate take-out in the car and stayed awake for two hours, bored by the unmoving traffic. Again, i slept, this time at 6pm. When i woke up, we were already home. it was still raining and it was already 9 in the evening. we were stranded for almost 11 hours.
What happened to me and my family were small in comparison to what happened to other more unfortunate people in my country. Many places were flooded, ranging from knee-deep to over 2 stories deep. some people were stranded on the roofs of their houses or on the third floor. hundreds of cars were being washed away by the strong currents as if they were mere driftwood.
By now, the storm had already went past our country. But many are still suffering. so far, more than a hundred people are dead. hundreds are still stranded. and a lot of people are missing. there is still mass flood in many parts of the country. But some have already subsided. On places where there used to be a flood, bodies can be seen on the trees, buried under trash and mud, or laying on the floor. cars are stacked all around, useless to their owners. homes were destroyed, alongside with everything in it. Many people lost everything they had, whether it be their things or their loved ones.
After everything that has happened and is still happening, i consider it a blessing for me and my family to be unharmed, as with our house and belongings. I am currently devoting my time (classes have been suspended for a week) to volunteer work to help those who are unfortunate enough to feel the damage and loss the storm has brought.
For more enlightenment on what had happened, videos of the storm's effects can be seen in youtube and written accounts can be seen on the internet.