Flood stories, photos swamp social networks

MANILA, Philippines—Students and workers alike turned to social networks to share their stories about Thursday and Friday’s  floods.

User Ernest Evasco (Tsienra), a 21-year-old student at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, posted a photo of himself in drenched clothes on Twitter. “This is why UP students need an umbrella, a car or knowledge of jeepney routes in school,” he said.

Students from the University of Santo Tomas on España, on the other hand, turned to Facebook to share their flood experiences. John David Torralba, a 5th year Industrial Engineering student of UST  shared his frustration with the flood and rains brought about by Tropical Storm Falcon that forced him to walk from UST to Lawton.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Torralba said that aside from walking in the dirty flood, bus drivers also refused to give them a ride. “Even after reaching the Pedro Gil station of the LRT, the flood was still knee-deep,” he said, adding that he also had to wait for an FX for three hours before he got home in Taguig.

On the other hand, Nikko Nicolas, a 4th year Advertising student at UST, was stranded in a computer shop on P. Noval St. near the university with three of his classmates for 14 hours.

Nicolas said classes were suspended at 4 p.m. but because of the continuous rain, they decided to stay at the computer shop and wait for the flood to subside. “The rain continued to pour and  getting a ride was difficult,” he said, adding that they were eventually left with no choice but to wait until morning. Nicolas and his friends were  able to go home at around 5 a.m. the following day.

De La Salle University in Taft was likewise not spared by the floods, and a number of students also posted updates and photos on their Facebook accounts.

A student at the DLSU interviewed by the Inquirer said food was given away at the Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament at around 8 p.m. for students stranded there. “Classes in the afternoon weren’t suspended. Some went ahead with their classes since they were already stranded,” she said, adding that water reached knee-deep levels at the gate nearest Vito Cruz.

Another DLSU student, Federico Locsin, told the Inquirer that he left DLSU at 6:45 p.m. “Vito Cruz got really flooded, so I decided to take Buendia to get home to Makati, but then I realized the flood was really bad there, too,” he said.  Locsin took a route to Osmeña Highway, where his car eventually stalled in the middle of traffic. “I got towed around 1:30 a.m.,” he said. “It was a learning experience.”

Students were not the only ones inconvenienced by the floods. Alexander Valcos, who works in Ortigas, was stranded in his office from 7 p.m. to 12 midnight. He posted on his Facebook about how inconvenient the weather was, and shared that he had to brave the flood just to reach home. Valcos added that when he reached his home on España in Manila at 1:30 a.m., the flood was still knee-deep.

Apart from sharing complaints, social network users also shared photos and warnings about flood levels in certain areas, while some offered to help people paralyzed by the floods.

At the height of Thursday night’s floods, Twitter user Jaycee Perez (iceboxace) offered her room for friends in the area who were finding it difficult to get home. “Stranded friends in Makati, my place is open for those who want to get adopted for tonight,” she said, adding that a high school friend who couldn’t get through the heavy traffic on Coastal Road ended up spending the night.

As Twitter user aforalyssa tweeted on Friday morning: “Yesterday made me realize how hospitable we Filipinos are. Everyone’s helping each other, even if they’re complete strangers.”