Ten years ago, we survived
Ten years ago today, we survived one of the worst typhoons that ever hit mankind: Typhoon Haiyan, or Bagyong Yolanda as we know it.
It's funny how the brain works.
I can hardly remember what I had for dinner last week, but I can remember what it was like 10 years ago. I can clearly picture in my head how things looked. I can even remember what I did 10 years ago.
Everything started at least a week before.
During that time, classes were just resuming. I was about to start my criminology internship with the Aviation Security Unit at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City.
The weather forecasts were already swirling with news of a massive typhoon coming our way. People were being asked to prepare, while also remaining calm and collected.
No one was panicking, of course. We've encountered and lived through so many typhoons. It didn't seem like it was gonna matter regardless what the news bureaus were saying.
Which turned out to be the fatal error for many who didn't make it.
Meanwhile, we were preparing for our internship.
The week came and we started reporting for duty.
We made it three days until Wednesday, November 6, 2013.
On Thursday, November 7, 2013, I was up real early getting ready to report. The airport is about an hour away.
My brother came early. He is a police officer who reports to the provincial office near the airport.
He came early to make sure that he could catch me before I left for the airport. He came to tell me not to report for duty during the day. He said things were getting bad and they were being made to be on high alert.
I didn't notice until then, but people have started moving differently.
Evacuations were starting, yet people were moving hesitantly. Like I said, we've weathered too many storms to panic over another.
The day was incredibly sunny. I told my brother that I'd still go and report, but he insisted.
He demanded.
So, I agreed.
Turns out, that advice and that decision might have just saved my life.
So, I stopped preparing for duty, and started preparing for the day.
We put some of our stuff in bags and got ready for evacuation if we ever needed to go.
But it was sunny. And nothing was happening.
During the afternoon, my friends and I decided to go to the beach.
It was brilliant!
There were no boats at sea anymore, of course. Everyone has been advised against going fishing since the week started.
But the sea was incredibly calm. Peaceful, even.
We didn't go for a swim, but we stayed a while.
I can still clearly picture the island of Samar on the other side of the sea that day. It looked like it had a fantastical veil covering it. It was rain, of course, but it was fascinating!
We went home almost completely unsatisfied feeling like, "What's all the fuss about?"
Nevertheless, we remained vigilant. I was old enough to understand what a 350 kph typhoon was as well as 5-10 meter waves.
During the evening, we were asked to leave our homes.
We evacuated to a home across the highway. It was a big house, and we thought it would be strong enough against the storm. We learn later that we thought wrong.
I heard clearly on the news that the typhoon will reach us by morning. So, during the night, while everyone was telling stories, praying, and recounting previous typhoons, I made sure to sleep.
The house was full and there weren't many places to sleep, but I made sure to find one and got to sleep. I thought to myself, "If the storm is going to be as strong as they say it is, then I'll need all the strength I can get tomorrow. Staying up all night will not help me at all."
I was right.
The next day, I woke up at about 4am. By then, the typhoon had already devastated the islands it passed through before it reached us and we were hearing all about this on the radio.
You could feel it in the air. You could feel it in the people. Things have started stirring in earnest.
By 5am, the storm really came. Stronger than they said it would be and even stronger than we ever encountered before.
There was nothing like it.
Leaves, branches, and entire trees were flying. The roofs were creaking. You can hear the aluminum struggling against their nails as the wind was pulling them off until they flew like leaves in the wind.
As time passed, the wind and rain kept getting stronger until everything outside just became white. Visibility practically went to zero and you could hardly see anything in front of you outside.
Inside, the flood started.
We were staying at the annex of the big house and it was less elevated. We then moved into the main house where there was no water yet.
Shortly thereafter, the water came, too.
It wasn't through flooding, but through the windows and the ruined roofs.
The second level of the house was made of laminated wood and, soon enough, it started to give.
I remember the taller men in the neighborhood with their hands raised trying to hold it up.
At around 7am, the eye of the storm came.
The owners encouraged the men to let the floor go and secure themselves instead.
We took the chance to leave the house and find better shelter somewhere else.
We went into the church next to the big house. It's a new church building, with stronger architecture and no wooden floors that anyone had to hold up.
We stayed inside one of the outer buildings. We were wondering why there were small indoor pools in what we thought was a bathroom. Turns out, it was a baptism room.
It was during this time that my mother, for some messed up reason, decided to return to our house!
By that time, there was hardly any damage to our house yet. She didn't want to leave it and, during the calm and the transfer, she took the chance to get away from us and back to the house.
When we got settled into the baptism room, everyone was looking for everyone and my mother was the only person missing. I thought she came with us!
By then, the storm was already picking up again. No one was allowed to go out anymore, so I couldn't go looking for her.
Thankfully, the church has an emergency team. One of the bigger members braved the storm and went looking for my mother. She went straight to our house, where everyone suspected she was.
Indeed, she was there, huddled up in the bathroom because she decided it was the strongest part of the house. Thankfully, she didn't lock any doors, but she had to be carried out of the house and into the church because the flood had risen by then.
Later, when asked why she returned to our house, she said she realized that she left some cash behind, so she went to retrieve it when she had the chance. Unfortunately, by the time she tried to make it back, the storm had picked up again, so she decided to stay inside.
And, so, the storm continued. It was the other side of the eye, so it returned at full strength.
It was the morning of November 8th. The sun should have been shining by then, but it was completely blocked out by wind and rain.
The wind was lashing against the windows, against the walls, and you can just hear it whistling. That kind of whistling that is letting you know that you better stay inside and stay huddled.
The rain was pelting our roof. It was so loud it might as well have been stones falling.
By then, we were starting to get hungry. It was after 7am and no one had had breakfast yet. There was no chance. The babies have started crying.
Thankfully, some of the neighbors brought snacks from their home store and did not keep it for themselves. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough for everyone. The food was distributed amongst those who really needed it: the old, the young, and the infirm. I was amongst those who received some because everyone in the community knew that I have a history of sickness. I was one among the infirm.
I did not consume all of the food at once, though. While I realized that half the storm was gone, I also realized that I wasn't sure when we could find food next. So, I kept some for later when I got hungry again.
We stayed in and huddled for about a couple hours more.
Around 9am, the storm started losing its strength and light started to come out.
Shortly afterwards, despite the wind and slight rain, people started coming out of their shelters.
That's when a funny thing happened.
One of my cousins, let's call him Patrick, came with a sack of snacks.
The snacks weren't what we noticed first.
He came bearing snacks wearing one of his grandma's dresses!
He said he couldn't find anything else dry to change into.
It was one of those bright spots in a gray world. It becomes funnier later.
Around 10am, we left the baptism room, thanked the members of the church, and made our way back to our homes.
Thankfully, ours wasn't washed away by the storm. Many were, but ours stood. Mostly.
A palm tree fell and destroyed a section of our roof. Many of the aluminum out front flew away. Our kitchen practically disappeared. Only the floor was left.
Nevertheless, we had four walls and some roof over our heads.
The first order of the day for most of us was food.
That funnier thing?
We learned that cousin Patrick looted the food from the various home stores in the neighborhood. My mother was happy receiving the snacks until she learned that many of the snacks were from our own home store!
The kitchen was destroyed, so we didn't have a stove anymore. The outdoor cook place was ruined as well. Besides, the wood was all wet.
Most of the rice we found was wet. We dug through to the middle to find some dry grains suitable for cooking.
We weren't sure how we were gonna do the cooking until one of the neighbors found a single-burner gas stove at their house. Someone else found gas. By some miracle, they worked and we managed to prepare for lunch.
We had rice and some canned food.
Then, we realized the massive cleanup that was in front of us.
Some of my cousins who lived close to the beach went to visit their homes.
They were all gone.
They returned and helped us clean our house. They stayed with us for a while until they could rebuild their homes.
We managed to clean up the living area by the time the sun set. We couldn't do any more cleaning, of course, since there was no light.
Besides, no one really wanted to do more cleaning because everyone was tired.
After supper, we talked for a while until we just fell asleep.
That night was the first night I ever had to sleep while sitting on a wet chair. The bedrooms were still all in disarray and the mattresses were soaking wet as well. There was no way we could sleep in anything cozy and comfortable.
The next day, we woke up not well rested, but the sun was brilliant!
The storm has gone and it took all the clouds in the sky with it.
This turned out to be a sort of blessing since there was more clean up to do and clothes to wash and dry. The downed electric poles with their electric lines were turned into clotheslines.
I walked outside for a bit. Saw the wreckage. Came home with a whole chicken.
The meat seller was giving them away for free for all takers. Rather that than have them all rot.
That night, we had chicken for dinner.
The last we would have before we had to go for weeks on canned food.