Tuesday

On Tuesday, I met D who had been staying with friends in Marikina when the floods came. She asked for help in towing her car which had been submerged in flood waters.

We drove through Marikina. The roads were packed and we passed a line of people waiting for relief goods. The mud from the rivers on the street had begun to dry and filled the air with dust.

In the car, D told me two carabaos and a pig had floated into their neighborhood from the river. The neighbors ate them. Another man was also swept along the river, clinging on to a water tank. They saw the man again later, carrying the tank on his back.

She showed me the Marikina river where the waters had risen about 20 feet, completely submerging a statue of "Marikit", the muse of the city who usually floats upon the waters. A janitor fish flopped on the bridge.

We were waiting for later hours to tow the car. I asked D how close Provident Village was. She said it was just a couple of blocks down. We decided to walk there. It truly was like a disaster movie. Most cars were leaving the area and a few army trucks were entering. Muddied and barefoot people walked the streets clutching plastic bags of food and clothes. The police stopped two boys who were carrying a refrigerator and tried to determine if they were really the owners.

On the road leading to Provident, we decided not to proceed any farther and turned back to her house.

When we returned, we learned that neighbors had just found the bodies of two market helpers who had locked themselves in the building by pulling the gates down, thinking they would be safe from the rising waters.