And there came the flood: The Full story

The idea of this write up came from a prompt by #Freewritehouse, it was made to improve our writing and there was a story I really wanted to tell but 5 minutes wasn't enough. You can join the community and know more about the prompt HERE

Image source from unsplash

It has always been like this, people leaving their house anytime it wants to rain. There is little the government can do or should I say they haven't done anything. The condition of the people living in Ogijo, especially the molatori area, has continued to worsen. Every year people lose their property and the funny part is they are not ready to move.

Building a new house costs a fortune and renting a house will make the old house more abandoned.

It was June 202 in Ogijo where I live, my house to molatori is a 2min journey. I have friends and so does everyone in my family. I will never forget that year because we lost a very close friend. It has always been a tradition for people to leave their home at the slight chance of a heavy downpour but on this day it wasn't expected or can I say we never saw it coming.

It was already late at night, 11pm. Without any sign or warning the rain started and it was late for people to leave their homes. Some people felt it would just be a normal downpour, something they can manage with and if water starts entering their houses they would find a way to block it.

According to the testimony we heard from a friend.

"We were still sleeping when the rain started and we felt it wouldn't be something much, our dad was awake watching the level of the erosion. We should have left the house on time but we felt it was something we could cope with. Before we know it was already too late.

We saw people running out of their houses for a safe haven and that was when my dad instructed us to get ready to move. We all came out of the house after we put all our stuff that can get damaged by the water on a high place.

My dad carried my little sister while my mom and I held each other so tight. We walked through the erosion under the heavy rain. It was so hard to see but since we were familiar with the road and other people were leaving too it gave us confidence to move forward.

As I walked through the flood, the water level was already at my stomach and all my prayer was for us to get to my dad friend's place on time. As we were going, a boy lost the grip of his mom and the water was pulling him away, all we could do was shout helplessly.

I watched as a helpless mother ran through the water to find her son. There was nothing we could do and my dad instructed us to hold each other tight and keep moving forward.

We escaped the flood when we got to a higher ground but the scene of the mother and her child kept playing in my head"

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That same year, several people were found dead in their home because they couldn't leave on time. Many families cried and the government was forced to intervene. Till date, there are little changes to what happened in 2021. People's property is always damaged and many people have already abandoned their homes after that incident.

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Last year when I watched the international news about the flood in the Philippines I was always sad because losing one's home, a place of comfort to a place where you just have to manage and survive can be traumatic. I hope peace reigns in the world and we all can live happily together.

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Specail thanks to @lightpen and @xeldal