Modular Tents: The Modern Innovative Shelters

News about the typhoon Karding that had bent the catch basin city of Marikina was
spread through different types of media.
Many expected that there would be many casualties, just like back then with the
legendary Ondoy, where the water levels had almost made the bridge pillar extinct and had
submerged the city all in one go.
But with this time around, Karding was prepared but the citizens alongside the
government have learnt from the past.
If you watch TV or have scrolled down your Facebook feeds, you might have heard the
tents that were set up in the schools/evacuation centers in the higher parts of Marikina.
Tents. Yes, tents. To clarify what they look like, they have this more cube-like shape
resembling a cubicle in an office, and they are called Modular Tents. They measure three
meters by three meters, having an open ceiling, and you can probably fit your whole family in it
if you want it to.
If you walk through an aisle of the tents, it really does look like one of those scenes from
The Office, minus the angry yelling and such. Everything was organized, with the authorities
also giving out medicine to those who were sick and providing warm food to the citizens who
resided in the evacuation area.
When you look back to the terrors of Ondoy and the Habagat, these scenes were very
far from what played in the rearview mirror of the car I rode when we had helped my relatives
escape the rushing waters of that day.
Rain that made the windshield blur at every possible spot, wind that whistled once it
blew through our direction. Other vehicles tried besting their way through the murky waters of
a nightly pour, but most ended up with a wet brake and muffler, stopping and stranding them
there.
How times quickly pass and change, and gladly, it was for the better. Marikit-Na
probably thinks that too, considering she saw everything that had happened in the last years.
With the citizens hand in hand with the government, it just proves that no tropical
storm, typhoon, monsoon can break their city, and that preparation is always something we
should all observe, yes, even if you do live in a high place where floods can't touch you.