Magdasal na Tayo

We know it's already desperation when the weather bureau told us to say our prayers and prepare for the worst.



Pepeng (international name: Parma) is scheduled to slam into Luzon Saturday morning--one week after Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) poured one month worth of rain inundating 80% of the metropolis with floods.



When I went to work this morning, I took with me a change of clothes, a towel, water and snacks and stocked them in the backseat of my car. In case the rains would pour again tonight, I'm prepared to camp out in my car.



In my 33 years of existence, the only memorable storm that comes into mind was Milenyo (international name: Xangsane) when it hit Manila three years ago uprooting trees, damaging property and taking lives. I felt the wrath of that storm when it blew open the terrace doors of our house and it took three of us just to close it again. We ended up blocking the doors with a couch and bed to keep the doors closed.



According to news reports, Pepeng has sustained winds of 195kph with gustiness of up to 230kph. If my research is correct, it's definitely stronger than Milenyo which only had sustained winds of 130kph and gustiness of 160kph. No wonder PAG-ASA intends to raise Signal 4 in the affected areas once the storm hits land.



Leo and I have been stocking up mostly on Basti's needs. I already bought two more bottles of Wilkin's yesterday and though I have 1 can of back-up stock of Basti's milk, I still want to buy more as I'm really preparing for the worst. Leo bought batteries in case the power goes out, at least we can listen to the AM station for any news. I hate being kept in the dark in times of crisis. (However, when I was stuck in SLEX with rising floodwaters, I refused to listen to the AM station as the news was already scaring me).



God help us all.