storm of the century

the shoe fits the foot. Milenyo, many would agree, fits as the name of one of the most horrific storms to hit this country.

i am still oblivious to the havoc wreaked by this monstrous typhoon, because our power outage lasted for three days (even then, we're lucky, since our neighbors, whose power lines are connected to san juan, have no electricity as of now. our lines are connected to mandaluyong). No news, no TV, no radio, no internet, and at times, no signal. at times i had to fight the urge to shout WTF?! because my little brother can hear me.

damages caused by Milenyo are phenomenal, and the aftermath of this storm are horrendous. and I'm not exaggerating. read the wrath of milenyo at inq7.net. death toll (as of this writing) stands at 72, and many still are missing. damages are climbing at P400 M, and may still increase to billions of pesos.

statistics overwhelm me, even if i'm so used to them in research. any death toll (just the fact of a death count, knowing there's more than one) scares me. this means that more than one family will have to face the future without a daddy, or a mommy, or a child. i'd rather have my possessions destroyed than lose one parent or one sibling, no matter how difficult they are at times.

in cavite, five people died when butas dam broke and swept them away. they were checking the dam and the water level to see if they and their families had to move to higher ground. most likely, one of those five was a father who was concerned if he had to evacuate his family, if he had to pack his family's belongings and bring his family somewhere safe. his and the others' concern turned around and swept them into death.

others have their own stories to tell. one upland barrio in makiling in los banos, laguna was buried by landslide. it was reported that among those who died were two children, aged 2 and 7. two kids that will be missed by their mothers who carried and took care of them, by fathers who provided for them, by their siblings who played with them.

i can't put faces or names on those 72 who died. i can only pray for those families grieving at their loss, whose families will forever be changed by the historic Milenyo that stormed through the nation.