?I WAS ACTUALLY WORKING when ?Ondoy? hit Manila. I was hosting an event at the Megatent in Pasig. We were a little isolated, so it really came as a shock when my brother Jona called me from home to say that our village was flooded, and one of our cars was already half-submerged in water.

?In comparison, we were actually incredibly lucky, having lost only a car. I know of many people who lost entire houses, all their belongings, and someone who actually died.

?The Internet, Twitter and Facebook were of huge help in trying to organize relief efforts. I don?t think mobilization and logistics would?ve been the way they were without these. I was coordinating with people I?d never met through Twitter and Facebook.??Lia Cruz, PBA reporter

?I didn?t really have to worry about surviving the typhoon or dealing with its aftermath as my own home (which is in New Manila) wasn?t affected at all. But I have lost my faith in God and I have this plaguing guilt for simply being alive and well. People may dismiss it as me being overly dramatic but, really, can I be blamed for feeling this way?

?I?ve been dealing with the metaphysical unease by helping out the flood victims: My schoolmates and I have been operating a soup kitchen for them since Monday. We didn?t expect to receive more than P5,000 in donations, but we?ve already raised P20,400.

?I may have completely lost faith in divine will but all the kindness I am seeing has definitely brought back my belief in people.??Nicole Del Rosario, student

?For the first time, our 40-year-old Merville home in Parañaque got flooded. Fortunately, the waters reached only the basement, where my studio is. What got hit were my PC for mastering, stocks of my solo album, studio acoustics and some furniture. I can?t really complain! Others had it worse. We should continue to support and help them in any way we can.??Zach Lucero, musician

?I was home, planning relief operations with colleagues and friends, while keeping friends abroad posted via the Internet about donation centers around the world. Thank God for Facebook.??Andrea De Guzman, writer

?We had a class at 7 a.m. and our classes were suspended at 9 a.m. My dad and I were in the car traversing Nagtahan when we saw that the roads had become impassable. We were stranded in Jollibee from 11 a.m. until 3:30 a.m. the next day. It was very kind of the people there to let us stay inside even though it was past their closing time. They provided us with an endless supply of drinking water.??Mariel Santos, 18, third year, College of Education, UST

?I came in late for my 8 a.m. class. As soon as our classes were over, my classmates and I hurried out of our building so that we could get home early. When we got to España, the water was already knee-deep. We rode a bus, and when we reached E. Rodriguez Ave., the water was already chest-deep. We decided to brave the waters and we walked until we reached our friend?s house. We were stranded in the house until the next morning.?Daniel Von Evan Panelo, 19, fourth-year, UST Journalism
student

?When our classes were suspended, we hurried out of our building. We walked to España and rode a bus there. The bus driver did several detours trying to avoid the water but, in the end, he gave up. Our bus got stranded in the middle of the flood and we were inside the vehicle. Our shoes were ruined, my friend even lost hers. We had to walk barefoot on Banawe St. and depended on the kindness of shop owners to let us use their bathrooms. We returned to our bus and survived with the hot coffee and banana cue that vendors were plying. Good thing they did not overprice.??Anne Rose Gamboa, 20, UST Journalism student

?I was a staffer of a spiritual retreat at that time. We were in a bungalow. The floods quickly entered the room our participants were using as a bedroom. Action had to happen. There were two overriding emotions that came. One was a sense of determination. It pervaded everyone, I guess. We knew what was happening was crap, but by God, we were going to fight. We rapidly mobilized: We packed our bags, moved beds, brought people to higher ground, pushed water out to stem the rising tide, drove cars up to higher ground. It was a team effort. I guess I felt a rush of faith. I wasn?t afraid -- I knew we were going to be okay. I felt like praying. And while no ?hand of God? showed up, I felt something else -- it was like that ?hand of God? was all of us, right there.??Raph Doval-Santos, 25, writer

?My husband and I were planning to go to the hospital to have my tonsils checked. We decided to wait for the rains to stop -- which didn?t. I was baking in the kitchen when our kitchen drain began to ?gurgle.? When my husband asked maintenance what was wrong, he learned that the rains were so strong, the drains couldn?t handle them. That?s when he looked on Facebook and saw the epic disaster that was happening outside. We could do nothing. We felt helpless, sitting in our little Makati condo. I kept thinking, ?If only I were rich like those people who have jet skis or boats parked in their garages... if only I owned a department or grocery store so I could donate more to people...? I never felt so small in my life.?Maui Drilon, 26, advertising copywriter

?I was inside my room, soaking up the water which was coming through the ceiling with rags, and collecting the deluge in buckets.??Vanessa Glenda Garcia, 21, hotelier

?I was eating breakfast and preparing to go to the gym. At the last minute, I decided not to go anymore. Good thing I didn?t leave the house or else I would have been stranded at the mall or while on the road. But while at home and while the rain was pouring outside, my mom and I didn?t realize that the downpour had already caused flooding inside the house. Before I knew it, the whole first floor of the house was already flooded knee-deep. We had to wait for the water to subside and my mom and I immediately cleaned the whole place up.??Patricia Ann Roque, 21, PR account manager

?I was stranded on Edsa, along Ayala Ave. We walked all the way to Buendia until some good Samaritans took me and my friends in their van and drove us to our destination. If my memory serves me right, the plate number of the van is RCV 651.??Steno Padilla, 22, copyeditor

?I was doing makeup for a wedding and the bride was sobbing because her groom couldn?t get to her; he was stuck in his house. To cut the long story short, the wedding was rescheduled for the following day instead, where we did the makeup again.??Tatin Yang, 28, makeup artist

?I was at home with the househelp, my dad and sister when it happened. It had never flooded like that before: Before, a few rags would have done. The current was so strong even when only one vehicle passed by, the water started to flow inside the house. We immediately started mopping the floor with rags and bathroom floor mats, then scooping out water with tabo and dustpans. We even tried getting modeling clay and squeezing it in the gap between the door and the floor. It helped a little bit. We had to move furniture, appliances and paintings. Luckily, water only reached our ankles. We were worried because the house is a bungalow. Water eventually subsided, and we had to return the things to their proper places. We also had to scrape off the clay.??Crissy Marinez, 23, project assistant

?I was at the engineering library in UP with my thesis groupmates doing research work. My groupmates? parents were going crazy about the flood in the metro, asking them where they were, giving them warnings; we had no freaking idea what was happening outside. One of our groupmates was able to pass by Philcoa. We were told that it was a sea out there, almost literally. My mom told me not to go home and instead spend the night at my friend?s house. Floodwater inside our house was waist-deep already at that time so I had no choice but to spend the night at the house of one of my thesis groupmates inside UP.??Gian Alvarez, 22, student

?I was at home, tending to a few minor leaks in the house. Thankfully, our area had never been flooded, but I felt helpless about others I knew were affected.??James Estrada, 27, student pilot

?I was in my condo unit in Mandaluyong. The electricity was cut off in the afternoon. I exchanged text updates with my boss upon finding out two of our staffers were flood victims (one in Provident Villages). I kept tabs on my loved ones and prayed the rains would stop.??Roan Peña, 22, magazine writer

?I was at home with my daughter, my dad and the househelp. My street in Loyola Heights was flooded neck-deep, and water went inside for the first time. Our first floor was knee-deep in water. We were able to put our couches up on the tables and turn off the main power source before everything got too bad. The flood went down within the day and we were able to turn on the power in the second floor of the house that evening. The next day, I called my friends to help make food for the people in need, as I knew there were places a lot worse than mine. We ended up using my house as home base for the next four days.??Erica Paredes, 30, magazine editor

?I was at home with my one-year-old baby at Mandaluyong when ?Ondoy? came. I was upstairs with my baby and no one was home except for the maids and my husband?s great grandmother. Lunchtime, I decided to go down and prepare my baby?s lunch, so I discovered that the water had already reached the stairs. My baby and I were trapped for like a long time. Finally, my husband came home, and we waited for the rain to stop.??Soleil Angeles-Tinoco, 23, fashion stylist

?I was driving on the way home to Manila from Clark and I dropped off my classmate at the North Avenue station. On the way to E. Rodriguez, the flood caught up with me on Gilmore. I had no choice but to go counterflow on a one-way street. Thankfully, I got home safe and spent the succeeding days volunteering at various relief drives.??John Michael Yeo, 30, student pilot