Signal No. 4

December 23, 2021.

Cebu has been devastated by typhoon Odette!

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAG-ASA, the Philippines’ national institution that is dedicated to spread information and warning to the Filipino for any impending natural calamity, has been warning the people in the Visayas about typhoon Odette as early as December 14, 2021.

The warning is about how strong typhoon Odette (Rai is the international name) is, that Odette is a super typhoon, much stronger than typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan is the international name) in 2013 that devastated Leyte.

Upon hearing the warning, I went to the supermarket to buy necessities such as canned goods, rice and candles. We also have our drinking water refilled. I thought we were ready for the typhoon Odette.

Prayers were also sent up above for the typhoon to weaken.

December 16, the day started so calm and Mr. Sun showed its face for a short time. Talking about “there is calm before the storm” so real.

Shortly after lunch the rains started to fall, it was not a strong rain but it comes with the wind that is getting stronger and stronger by the hour. At seven it the evening the typhoon made its landing.

The devastation in my place of residence started with the mango tree fronting the house. It fell down cutting all the wire connections to the house, this includes the electricity and the internet connections. The fallen tree blocks the entrance of our house.

The sound of the wind is so scary, it seems that Lord Voldemort has sent out his Death Eaters together with the Dementors to suck out our happiness and our houses.

The next to give up was our garage area. The roof fell down on the cars beneath it. I was just grateful that we were able to move the cars to the innermost of the garage as the wood that support the roof just hit on one of the car and just left a dent. The wood that fell on the Innova, supported the other car and left it undamaged.

The sound of the roof flapping got me worried right after the wind changed its direction. This time the wind sounds like there were several big trucks coming our way. And these very strong winds blown away half of my roof. It brought five solar panels with it. I hope that it didn’t do much damage to where it landed and the solar panels are quite heavy.

Everywhere water seeped in inside the house. I have all the windows opened so that the strong winds will not break them. True enough, no windows were broken but all our things got wet.

There is only one room in the house that was not wet and that is my closet. This is where we slept for the remaining of the night. We were like sardines in a can all huddled up in the closet.

Come morning after, we saw what typhoon Odette has left behind. The open roof, the fallen garage roof, the bended mango tree, the devastation of my plants.

The only plant I placed inside the house was the monstera deliciousa as this is quite expensive. She is the only plant that still looks beautiful after the typhoon.

From the third floor of our house, we can see the neighbor’s houses, some does not have roof while others have no walls.

Without electricity means no light, the night looks so eerie but the good Lord provided us with natural light. The moon was so huge for the past few nights after the typhoon. We linger outside the house during the night and were entertained by how the moon, the stars and the clouds played up in the sky.

Despite all of these, we are still preparing something for our neighbors and their kids. We will celebrate Christmas with them. We will have games for the kids and will distribute relief goods, little it may be but it will go a long way. A special thanks to my brother in New Zealand for the sponsorship for the relief goods.

For we are grateful that no lives were taken, we are still complete and can celebrate Christmas as a whole family.

As of this writing, we are again bracing and preparing ourselves for there is another typhoon coming our way. We hope that it will not be as devastating as typhoon Odette. Please pray for us.

Thank you for the virtual hugs and kisses and the well wishes.

To all my read.cash friends, a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

That’s all for now folks.

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