It’s been three weeks, and I still can’t believe we got out of of the rising flood in Pampanga when the first onslaught of the southwest monsoon started.

It was July 29, Saturday, when we set off to visit our friend in his house in San Fernando, Pampanga. Typhoon Egay was already outside PAR (Philippine area of responsibility), and typhoon Falcon did not make landfall. Nevertheless, the latter was already pulling the southwest monsoon rains in the morning. We still decided to go, thinking it won’t be that bad. Besides, our friend from San Fernando said their area never gets flooded.

I decided to leave my car in the open parking lot of Trinoma and joined my other two friends in another car: a 2011 Honda City sedan. We were in our usual high spirits, exchanging stories along the way. The sun even took a peek at some point. By the time we got near the San Simon exit, traffic became slow. Two inner lanes were already flooded, the floodwater coming from the overflowing river by the side of NLEX.

There was only a slight drizzle at the time, so we were thinking the flood was probably caused by the strong rain from the previous night. We carried on, thinking that there is no real threat from the monsoon rain. We did talk about leaving Pampanga by 4PM so we can still get back to Manila before dark. But when you’re already with friends whom you haven’t seen for so long, you can’t just say goodbye right away. By 4PM, heavy rain started to fall, and that got me a little worried. Long story short, we ended up leaving around 5PM.

We took the usual way out, taking MacArthur Highway, turning right to Pandan rd., which should take us to NLEX heading toward Manila. It was when we turned right when we noticed Waze advising us to go back to MacArthur Highway instead. My friend thought of ignoring it at first, but after two opportunities for a UTurn and Waze kept asking us to go back, he relented.

When we got back to MacArthur Highway, flood was already beginning to rise especially in areas where there was road construction. We got past several flooded areas, but the water was getting higher as we went on. That’s when my friend started to get nervous. Waze said we can take the next left turn, which should take us to NLEX. We were relieved.

But it was never going to happen for us. We watched SUVs and trucks take the turn, and saw in horror that the water was almost up to the hood of those vehicles. And so we went straight toward MacArthur Highway. My friend said we should go all the way and exit somewhere in Bulacan. I protested, saying that if it’s flooded in Pampanga, it will definitely be worse in Bulacan.

We went on, passing by San Simon, which was already knee-deep in floodwater. When we got to a gas station for a refill, the locals told us that there is no other way to get to NLEX but through that heavily flooded street. Worse part is, we were told that whenever it floods in Pampanga, there’s no telling when the flood will subside. It was already almost 7PM.

We still went straight, not wanting to go back to the horrific flooded parts of the highway where we came from. When we got to Apalit, we decided to park by a restaurant whose area was elevated. We bought water, used the toilet, and ordered some snacks (we were still full from the feast that our friend served us). The restaurant and the other stores nearby was going to close by 9PM, so we decided to stay in the car where we monitored the news and mapped out a strategy on how to get out.

“We can just wait for the rain to stop and the flood to subside.”

“This is habagat (monsoon rain), it’s not going to stop. Plus we were already told flood here takes forever to subside.”

“Let’s ask Ronnie (our friend from Pampanga) to pick us up and leave our car here.”

“Through that deep water? No! We’ll only get him into trouble.”

“What if we stay the night and just start heading back again by Monday?”

It was already nearly 10PM, still Saturday. And my friend wanted to stay until Monday. Are you freaking kidding me?! I was really determined to go home. In fact, I almost volunteered to drive through that heavily flooded street leading to NLEX.

By 11PM, we went back to the gas station to check the height of the flood. Yup, still high. The gas station attendants were kind enough to let us stay for as long as we need. I told my friend that we can try again at 12MN. At this point, my friend asked me if I would be willing to take the wheel this time. But of course!!! I felt confident because first, I’ve driven through heavy flood many times before and I’ve survived them all. Second, this isn’t my car. Third, I know that God will not let anything bad happen to us. This third reason was the most important, and made me realize why things happened the way they did that night.

By 11:30PM, I told my friend that we should go, or we’ll never get out at all. So I took the wheel and went back all the way to San Fernando, through all those flooded streets, which by that time were already submerged in deeper water. I was praying the whole time while concentrating on the gas pedal and listening to the engine’s throttle. Several times, it felt like choking. I felt sorry for my friend and his car each time I would navigate through areas in deep water. I would wait for the roads to be empty before I move forward to the next flooded area so I won’t have to stop in case we hit into heavy traffic. There was a moment when I had a doubt as to how deep the water was in a certain area, until a Toyota Wigo passed by us. We laughed nervously and went after the brave, tiny car. If he can do it, so can we.

The pivotal moment was when we got to the road construction area. Huge trucks were on the opposite direction, and they caused water to ram toward us. I didn’t look, but I think the water almost covered the hood of the car. I just concentrated on the gas pedal and stayed on first gear (yeah, it was a manual transmission). When we finally got to NLEX (nearly 1AM), the inner lanes were already cleared of floodwater. I got my car in Trinoma and finally reached home by 3AM.

Until today, I’m still thinking of how God helped us make the right decisions…how He led us to those situations and took us to the right roads toward the exit.

Had we defied Waze and went on to the first Manila exit toward NLEX, we would have gotten stuck in NLEX. There wouldn’t have been any opportunity for us to get gas, drive around looking for better options, and worse: get stalled by the heavier flood in NLEX, which turned out to be non-passable to small vehicles like ours.

Had I taken the wheel earlier and forced our way through that left turn leading to other NLEX exit, we would still have ended up stuck and probably stalled in the expressway.

Had I listened to my friend’s suggestion to go all the way through MacArthur Highway, we would have been trapped in Bulacan.

Had we listened to his suggestion to stay put until Monday, we would have gotten stranded in San Simon for a week. Apparently, days after that fateful Saturday, news reports said that San Simon was still under water for several more days.

Things like this had to happen because there are lessons to be learned. For me, it’s never to doubt yourself when faced with a challenge. Trust God, and He will show you the way.