As I am typing this, we still have no electricity, water, and internet connectivity as with most areas of my hometown, Cebu. Luckily, I was able to drive to the city and stay in a hotel to charge my electronics and connect to the internet for a while.
Cebu is a huge mess. Odette, the local name for super typhoon Rai, with wind gusts at 240 kph shattered many trees, electric posts, and homes. Damage is still being assessed at the moment. I will write about what happened here as a way to immortalize the experience.
Prior to the landfall on December 16, 2021, we have been getting warnings from the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC). I remember I got the first warning on December 11, 2021, as I was staying in a co-working space in my city. People got the warning at the same time and I just shrugged it off as normal since this was not the first time that we got warnings from the NDRRMC before. I was also preoccupied with schoolwork to care but my mom was quick to shop for groceries right then and there.
By December 15, the warnings got more intense as the Public Warning Signal Number was raised to No. 4. This meant very heavy damage to high-risk structures, heavy damage to medium-risk structures, and moderate damage to low-risk structures. Structures of light materials are 75% totally and partially destroyed and complete failure of roof structures. Houses made of medium-built materials will be unroofed, some walls will collapse, and there will be extensive damage to doors and windows. First-class materials houses will be partially damaged and signs and billboards will be blown down. Most vegetation and trees will suffer extensive damage. Regret really comes in the end, as I have learned about all of these now after Odette has done her damage.
By the morning of December 16, I have prepared as normal since I was also meeting someone for work in the afternoon. I saved some links like the Zoom Earth tracker that would help keep me in perspective as we would weather the storm by nighttime. As I went through some errands in the morning until in the early afternoon, my appointment got canceled as the person I'm meeting was also concerned for me. I was supposed to stay the night at the co-working space as I was intent to still catch up on my deadlines for the week, but I changed my mind and I went to gas up before I went home.
It turned out that filling my car's gas tank and going home early became the two very best decisions of my life.
The Night of the Storm
As the night grew dark, the winds blew really strong. At about 7 pm, someone came knocking through our door. At first, I felt afraid, thinking that it was someone with bad intentions. But after my brother opened it, it was the caretaker of my car's parking space. He said that the tree beside my car was going down, so he told me to park my car elsewhere. I was really grateful to him since he risked himself despite the strong winds. It was one of the kindest acts I've witnessed throughout this tragedy. In the morning, the car beside me was shattered due to the tree.
That night, my mom, grandma, younger brother, and our family friend were with me inside the house. The winds were howling almost like it was forming a tornado. My grandma felt her chest tighten and my mom almost had a nervous breakdown. I, on the other hand, was oddly calm. I took solace in the fact that I was still connected to the internet and I was able to track where the storm was in real-time. I pacified my family's worries and told them that we were safe inside compared to the outside. I told them to listen to some music and reassured them that we were going to be okay. It was so dark outside that we couldn't see what was happening. My brother was worried as he heard some things that fell off on his motorcycle. Everyone got worried when we heard our roof get detached by the wind. At this point, my brother urged me to call for rescue. I called but I couldn't get through. I was already scared on the inside. But I didn't let my family see it. I had to stay strong.
We could hear our screen door getting detached and water slowly found its way inside our house. We were still dry and we stayed in my room. My mom was worried that the electric post near our house would fall off inside our house. But I trusted that we were safer inside than outside. We stayed in until the storm slowly calmed. The strong winds lasted for about an hour and a half. According to the storm tracker, we were already in the eye of the storm. We knew that more winds would follow the temporary calm, but we trusted that it won't be as strong as before. After a while, my eyes grew heavy and I slept.
The Morning that Followed
When I got up, it was already morning. Everything was a mess! Trees fell on the streets, on the houses and electric posts made the roads impassable. We were still lucky compared to those badly hit by the typhoon. My heart went out to the animals and the homeless. What happened to them?
I took a walk around the neighborhood to assess the damage and to help my friend check on her family. My heart broke when I saw businesses and our street lights shattered. Many homes lost their roofs. It was devastating, to say the least.
Reports have said that it will take 2 weeks for the water to flow as normal, 3 weeks for electricity to come back. A lot is uncertain at the moment, but we know the Cebuano spirit will still carry on. Please pray for Cebu, please pray for the Philippines 🙏.
