Tropical Depression Agaton's Catastrophe

April 12, 2022 (Tuesday)

The other day, I was enjoying the coldness of the weather. But now, I feel like my trauma during the havoc of super typhoon Odette came back. My nervousness and uneasiness took over as we were experiencing strong winds and heavy rains. Today, the tropical depression Agaton hit our province. Our place is under TCWS #2 (tropical cyclone wind signal # 2). Before, even if we were under this wind signal, we were not that bothered and worried for it was not that strong. But now, the wind is way stronger. The whooshing sound of the wind creeps me out. I can still remember during the past typhoon Odette that is why my nervousness attacked again. But I need to be strong for my daughter. My partner's mother is not here so we need to brave for our own sake.

The electricity was out past 10 this morning. They say that our electricity line were cut due to the strapping wind. Here in our compound, we are all alarmed for we are afraid that we will be flooded again if the heavy rain continues. My partner was wet all day for he was busy freeing the water flow so it won't stuck and went inside our house. He cleared all the drainage and cleaned the areas where the waters may stuck. Me and my partner's sister, on the other hand, were busy cleaning inside the house for there were already amount of water went inside our house. We put some jars where there are leaking water from the roof. I just put my daughter on her favorite chair so she won't bother us. I'm glad that she was so behave. Maybe she was wondering what happened to her surroundings.

Afternoon came. My partner's other sister hurriedly came into our house. She told us that we need to pack our things. We need to be ready for the water in the river that is located few distance from our house were already big. I hurriedly secured our things in high areas and they also secured theirs. I grabbed our backpack and prioritized the things of my daughter like her clothes, milk, diapers and bottles. I only put few clothes for me and my partner. I also secured all our necessary documents and wrapped it with plastics.

Night came. We were so dark and the only light that we had was the flashlight from our phone. While having our dinner, the wind outside was still strong that it made a creepy sound as it slapped everything on its way along with the heavy rain. There were also lightning and thunder that made my daughter scared. Thus, I decided to let her watch a movie on our tablet to divert her attention. I am also scared of lightning and thunder for I had a traumatic experience with it. My partner's mother also monitored us. She was also worried for us. She told us to evacuate to the municipal hall for us to be safe. We brought our things first to the office where my partner's sister works, and we will go there if things got worst. My partner and I did not sleep the whole night for we were guarding the situation.

The next morning, when the weather was better, we checked some places and this is what we saw.

This is the Layog river that we monitored. The dike was already damaged and when the rain won't stop, it has a possibility that it will overflow to the houses, including ours.

This is the rice field that we used to visit every afternoon. It is now looks like a sea. Good thing the rice grains were already harvested before the typhoon. During the day the storm ravages, the water overflowed the street that made the people trapped in their barangay. When the rain subsided, the water receded as well.

I thanked the Almighty God that He kept us safe. But my heart is still broken because of what happened to our neighbor town where they were the most affected by this calamity. Until now there are still places that are experiencing landslides and floods. Let us pray for all the victims of this devastations.

Thank you everyone for reading. Till next time.

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All images above were captured by me.

Lead image is edited using Canva app.