A month had passed since super typhoon Odette destroyed the kabisayaan part of the Philippines. Little by little the kabisayaan is slowly standing and fighting to survive. Let's take a look on my experiences and the aftermath of super typhoon Odette.
Cebu Province is an island located on the middle part of the archipelago of the Philippines. Cebu Province is surrounded by different island like Bohol and Negros. Also the mountainous part of the island is facing towards the Pacific Ocean making the island likely to be hit by a typhoon.
On December 16, 2021 a super typhoon locally named as Odette hit the province of Cebu and other neighboring islands. Causing massive destruction because of its strong winds.
On the night while the devastation of super typhoon Odette is on going me in my father had a traumatic experience that we will never forget. Me and my father didn't expect that the typhoon will be as strong as the super typhoon Yolanda. We are staying in a delivery warehouse along with some of my father's colleagues, when the super typhoon landfall in Sibonga city. At first, we were not worried at all because the warehouse is made up of concrete and metal frames. Not until, a strong wind slowly destroyed the warehouse. Me and my father rush into our vehicle and at the exact time, one of the walls of the ware house collapsed. All of the meal trusses and roof flew towards us which damaged our vehicle. I really thought that we will die that day. Luckily God is with us. God has keep us safe throughout the devastation keeping all of us safe.
At 12 am , December 17 2021 the strong winds already stopped.
I think it was 5 o'clock in the morning when we decided to go home already since the sky is clear. While going home, I saw the massive devastation the typhoon brought to our city. On the day before the typhoon came, it was never in my greatest imagination that these things would happened!
When we got home, I thank God for my family is safe. No parts of our house that were damaged, the only thing that saddened me is our computer shop. The computers were wet since our shop was not built really strong. Some computers were damaged and it saddened me that we can't bring it back right away since it will cost much of money for the repair and other expenses. I also noticed the big Star Apple tree near our house, it was wiped out by the typhoon. Thank goodness it did not fell to the roof of our house.
Aftermath
All of a sudden residents of Cebu Province became the busiest people in the Philippines. I remembered a day after the typhoon, there was no water and electricity. We had no water left since we did not prepare for the aftermath of this typhoon. We still have to go to somewhere who has "poso negro" since it is the only available water at that time. Drinkable water is really rare during the two or three days after the typhoon. Everything in our city is expensive. Gasoline and water refilling stations were the busiest stations at that time because people fall in line even though they sell it really expensive. Electricity and signal at that time were nowhere to be found. Glad that we have a neighbor and our barangay that caters free charging of cellphones and other gadgets.
It has been a month
It has been a month since the visit of typhoon Odette. I'm really thankful for VECO and their linemen, an electricity provider here in our city who worked hard just to energize the province. I realized plenty of things while recalling all the routines that I made when we still don't have electricity. First, I realized that my sleeping pattern got better. At six o'clock in the morning, I already woke up to fall in line for the "poso negro". It is tiring by the way. At eight o'clock in the evening, I already slept. I could not also believe that I could sleep as early as eight o'clock in the evening because I used to sleep at twelve midnight. I don't know why but I just get sleepy. Then, I also realized family gathered around. One night we played a game with my family. I think it's because there is no internet connection which we will not be busy facing our phones and enjoying it alone. Lastly, I realized that this situation reflected to the quote "prevention is better than cure". When the typhoon was still on the news and the whole province was advised to prepare, I think most of us did not listen. I can say that we were not prepared. But for now, the most important thing is we stand up amidst the calamity.
It's been a month, how are you? Well, if you are still speechless of the things that happened, let's keep it blank first.
-BANGONSUGBU-