Floods!

Its raining heavily today, reminding me of the floods last month.

Metro Manila is notorious for flooding.  Built on a plain between the South China Sea and a lake, much of the area lies at or just above sea level.  Many areas actually lie below sea level.  The metropolis has experienced decades of dense urbanization, but basic infrastructure has lagged far behind.   Illegal logging and deforestation in the mountains contributes to runoff.  As a result, heavy rains invariably bring floods to the city during rainy season (June - October).

The street in front of the house

A few days after arriving home from our road-trip, a typhoon swept across northern Luzon, the island we're on.  Very soon after that, another typhoon parked itself for several days to the northeast of Luzon.  Although it never came ashore in this country, it sat in the "perfect" position to bring in the dreaded southwest monsoon rains.  We had three days of torrential non-stop rain bringing a month's worth of rain in that time.  Some nearby areas measured rainfall of 2 - 3 feet in those three days.  This turned out to be one of the heaviest rainfalls ever recorded here.

In the garage

Before the southwest monsoon rains ended, half or more of metro Manila was under water, including the house where Tony's mom lives.  This was only the second time the house has flooded.  She had more than a foot of water on the ground floor, but managed to calmly wait it out on the second floor.  Fortunately, friends and neighbors were able to help get critical items up above the water.  Within a week after the flood, everything had been cleaned and dried out.  These photos were taken by Tony's brother, Bob, who also lives at the same house.

Living room couch propped up on kitchen chairs

Here in The Fort where we're a little higher up and have new infrastructure, everything was fine and we had no problems.  But I was beginning to wonder if maybe we shouldn't have rented a unit higher than the 16th floor!

Today's rain is also a result of southwest monsoons pulled in by a "super" typhoon that is currently headed for Hong Kong.  Hopefully we won't see the same volume of rain or experience such severe flooding this time.