'Helen'

That's the name of the new typhoon that just entered the Philippines. Needless to say, it just made me all the more worried. Floods have been everywhere since last week in and around Metro Manila. Sadly, my family is not spared from this latest calamity. The water level in the river behind our house rose to point where the water almost reached the road. That means all the houses are underwater. It started to subside by Friday because the rain stopped. Then comes 'Helen'. All I can do is pray that it weakens as soon as possible and leave the vicinity soon so there won't be anymore additional flooding...that's all I can do for now. Pray.

Flooding is a common occurrence back home. But I don't remember it affecting as many people/places as it is affecting now. A good example is the place where I grew up. It used to be that only our side of the road would get flooded just because the river is on our side. At that time, it was the only source of flooding that I knew of. The houses across the road from us would only get flooded if the water on our side got so high for it to cross the road...and that never happened. Today, it's a different story. Sometimes, the houses across the road would get flooded while our side don't. I have no explanation as to how that happens now but there are a lot of 'blame game' going on right now as to why that is. I personally don't like blaming anyone for any problem. I would rather see solutions to the problems than find who's at fault. Maybe when this flooding problems no longer happen...then maybe, we can start pointing fingers. For now, try and find out/ways how to solve the problems at hand. And that should be done not just by the people in office but everyone. I think that's the only way this problem can be solved.