WARNING!  DO NOT PLAY THE VIDEO at left without preparing yourself.  We did not put the slide show together ourselves, and there are some very disturbing images right off the bat that are painfully heartbreaking.  If you have a tender heart, you may want to skip it and go straight to the overview below.   As for me, (Jess),  I was already crying by the third slide.

If you skip the slides, we do have a lot of our own photos throughout these pages.  Just click on the Day by Day links above.

The overview below was put together by fellow missionary Ted Ruiz, who was actually in the states when the typhoon hit. He and his wife Vivien returned to Manila to try to see what they can salvage of their home. In trying to assess what happened, he put together a mixture of accounts from various sources.  Rather than giving a summary in our own words based on our experience alone (you will get enough of that here already),  I thought it would be good to share this compilation of accounts from others for a wider perspective.

The Manila Flood (Sept. 26, 2009)..........

-It had been raining for several weeks.

-The ground was already very saturated.

-On the morning of Saturday, Sept.26, a Low Pressure storm signal #1 was
hovering over Manila.  (This is the lowest signal, nothing to be alarmed about)

-But there was no wind, just light rain.

-And it was business as usual.

-Faith Academy had sports teams playing over Metro Manila that day.

-There were no weather watches or warnings from the government. Signal
#1 happens all the time.

-The street in front of the Ruiz house was experiencing its usual 1 foot of
water during rain storms.

-The storm was moving over Manila towards the waters heading to Vietnam.

-Then around 11am, it happened .....

-It became REALLY, REALLY DARK.

-Then all the 'Heavens' broke loose.

-The rain just came and came....bucket after bucket...17 inches of rain
fell in 12 hours

-Trash that is constantly dumped into the water channels and streets
does not help the already poor drainage system.

-One man said he had never experienced a pouring rain like that before.

-The water turned very, very muddy-so much soil being lost to water
erosion.

-Within minutes, cars were stalling in deep water.

-Motorists felt trapped behind stalled vehicles.

-Some simply abandoned their car.

-Others turned and rammed the middle dividing chain-link fence with
their car and crossed to the other side of the street.

-They, too however, were soon stalled and stranded.

-The water rose so high, that it now pushed cars along wherever it
wished.

-Some tried to ride it out on top the car.

-Motorists sought refuge in nearby buildings.

-The Government was concerned about the 3 Dams that surround Metro
Manila.

-The Dams were all overflowing and possibly might break.

-Immediately, they decided to release lots and lots of excess water from
all 3 Dams.

-This was done without warning to the public!!!!!!!!

-Folks who lived near a creek, canal, any body of water or in a
low-lying area were already getting concerned about the pouring rain.

-They began to put a few valuables up to a higher level in their housse.

-Children were told to stop playing in the rain (a common past time
here) and come inside.

-Then it hit.....

-......Like a Tidal wave.

-Within seconds, the level rose several feet .... and kept rising!!!

-They grabbed what they could and went to the second floor or to the
roof.

-In some places the water went over the first floor.

-Cars were rolled along by the current and smashed into each other or
into homes.

-Some families had to wait 2 days on a rooftop before they were rescued.

-The House Helper and her husband at the Ruiz House were not overly
concerned (at first).

-The house is about 3 feet above street level.

-Suddenly, the waters rose to the doorstep.

-They quickly grabbed a few important items and put them on higher
ground inside the first floor.

-Then it hit...... water rushed inside the house.

-Also, water started 'erupting' & spurting up like fountains from all
the floor drains... quickly filling the house

-They grabbed their bag that had some valuables, then grabbed the
dog and headed for the small vacant room up on the 2nd floor.

-This room is only accessible from outside the house.

-They had to wade through chest deep water to get to the door.

-At the outside door, water was now up to their necks.

-The door would not open-too much pressure from the water.

-They pulled & pulled ----- finally it opened.

-They hurried upstairs .... not knowing how high the water would rise.

-All windows are barred, so they thought, should the water rise to the
2nd floor, that there was no escape (they did not know about the one
'escape' window).

-It was very traumatic and they greatly feared for their lives.

-Water was even pouring over the 6 foot cinder-block wall in the back
yard.

-Thankfully, the water only rose to the 6 foot level on the first floor
(9 feet above street level).

-By Monday morning, the water had receded to the street level.

-Monday morning they went downstairs to scavenge for food (canned goods)
and drinking water somewhere in the house.

-6" of gross mud covered the streets and the floors of the homes.

-Most folks here do not know how to swim.

-One neighbor tied a long rope from his iron gate in front to the iron
gate of another house 50 feet away.

-The one house was lower and already under water.

-Muddy waters were rushing down the narrow streets.

-The neighbors clung to the rope in neck-deep water as they slowly made
it across the street.

-They put their baby in a plastic tub, clung to the rope and floated it
to safety.

-In some places, the water level of rivers and lakes is so high that
waters may not recede until December!

-The water rose 12 feet in one area.

-One family with 2 small children escaped with only their lives and a
few baby clothes.

-In one large subdivision near a river, 2 large trucks, packed with many
drums full of oil, overturned.

-Oil went everywhere in that subdivision, reaching the 2nd floor in some
homes.

-Oil, mixed with mud and water, got into everything....making clean-up
very difficult.

-By that time of the day, Malls were already packed with
people-especially wanting to get out of the rain.

-At one Mall the water rushed into the Lower Level.

-People panicked. 

-Many could not find a way to get to the Upper Level in time.

-When the water finally receded 2 days later, many dead bodies were
pulled out from the mud.

-Poor, wealthy and middle class were all affected.

-Rain fell on the Just and the Unjust alike.

-Already over 400+ have died.

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