Friday of June 20, 2008 when Typhoon Frank hit the archipelago. Little did I know that it would strike hard in Iloilo. There was heavy rain fall and strong winds. Saturday, June 21 I woke up early and had my dad drive me to Ventus to finish some work. We came across the Jaro river where we usually get the sign if flood will occur. So far it was in its normal level and dad said he will just call in case...
It was not after 1 hour when dad called that the siren is all over the place which warned the people in Tabuc Suba Jaro to prepare for the flood. I'm on a hurry to go home so I asked the assistance of nong Ruel to give me a ride home and minutes later mom texted me not to go home anymore. When we passed by Jaro, the van can no longer penetrate the water.
I decided to meet Jet at Robinsons Mall. The water is all over the place and I started to panic. He was there waiting for me. I can't help myself not to cry. I'm worried about my family back home. My brother's in Capiz and ufortunatley he can't go home coz it's signal number 3 in that place. I stayed with Jet the whole night hoping that tomorrow I can go home.
I'm getting more worried when I can't contact them already. jet and I went back to Ventus Sunday morning hoping I could get a chance to contact them since the whole city is black out, Ventus is just the only place who has reserved electricity.
Still I can't contact them. The landline's just ringing. I had the thought that the water reached the telephone line. So I decided to go to Jaro and check out the situation. We reached Jaro, I was with my cousin and Jet. We walked from Jaro bridge down Bankers Village. Seeing the whole place was a disaster. The Brgy Hall was full of refugees lining up to get some food from a truck with donations. Jetskies and motorboats were parked in the sideways, cars were also parked on the side og the bridge and sidewalks. We passed by Iloilo Supermart and it was all damaged. the water entered the store and the glass door broke. I can't imagine how an elevated place was reached by water. We came near Quintin Salas and saw some cars been thrown away in the vacant lot.. I saw our car parked in outside the building beside the village and it's drowned. I saw mud inside and it's oil spilled out.
We entered Bankers and the current of the water is so strong I just can't lift my feet. Jet and my cousin were pulling me to my feet. We reached home at last. I saw the mansions with crached fences, and muddy furnitures. All light posts and telephone lines are dead and were actually down. And my house, it's all chocoloate covered mud!!! I saw my helpers shoveling the mud out of our gate. Dad approached us teary eyed saying that "Guba gid ya balay ta, wala gid ko nag expektar na amu ni matabo" (It's all damaged. I didn't expect this to happen).
We went inside and all our furnitures are covered with mud.I saw the mark of the water in our wall. It's inches away from the ceiling. Shoes and clothings can't be distinguished which color, all documents were wet and covered with mud. Our utensils are nowhere to be found, they're scattered everywhere. No clothes were saved. To make it all short, all was damaged. I couldn't imagine this will happen. Nobody expected it. It's so tragic. The typhoon might have been gone. But the damage and trauma will remain. But I still thank God that my family is saved. That's all that matters.
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