Second Day After Odette

We survived the super typhon Odette. It's a Saturday and it's Matti's scheduled vaccination day. I believe the hospitals are open and there must be power there at the city or perhaps mobile signal so my husband and I together with our 16 months old baby and niece drove to Tagbilaran City.

On our way, we saw there were so many affected houses in the other towns too. Streets were all filled with trees, some were cut down with chainsaw just to clear the road. There were many houses without roofs and more similar cases like that in our neighborhood. But I saw how the locals were doing, a lot were out sweeping, a lot were already moving on, drying up their clothes out in the sun, some even were drying up pillows, sofas, bed foams, and stuffed toys. It was a sunny day just like how sunny it was a day after Odette, perfect to clean up and dry out those which were soaked during the storm.

It was a quarter to ten when we reached ACE hospital. We were told that the pedia is present and I was relieved about that. There was power indeed in the hospital but it was only through a generator. The entire Tagbilaran City is also out of electrical power but gladly, they have Smart cellular signal.

The pedia asked how we were doing, we told her about what we saw on the way, Tagbilaran City is not very affected but there were still visible damages. Malls were closed in fact, only the groceries were open to accommodate those who have to buy for their basic needs.

It was a quick vaccination process. We headed towards anyplace to have lunch as we were already hungry. We tried Mcdonalds but there was no parking space available, the drive tru lane was also very long so we decided to go to Jollibee instead only to find out that there was also a long line. We decided to just stay and buy food to go and eat inside the car. It took us an hour to line for our orders and for the food to be prepared. There were so many people!

After having lunch, we went to CITI hardware and some other hardware stores to check if there are any available generators. None. We decided to write our contact details so we can reserve a unit.

Thankfully there was mobile signal and internat access too! I was able to update my noise.cash and read.cash account. I checked social media, tried contacting a few people, our families in Oslob, my sister in law, my colleagues. Only Cebu City seem to have internat access, those in the provinces were still out of coverage just like us.

My husband on the other hand was able to get in touch with his HR department about the situation and was told not to worry about it. Most of them were also unable to report to work due to no internet connection. But thankfully, their company office has generator and the CEO told them that everyone is welcome to go to the office, even family members can be brought along in case they don't have a shelter. The company offered them free water and electricity supply which we greatly appreciate. If the situation won't get better by the end of the year, we are considering moving back to Cebu City for the husband's work.

After this we were in search for an ATM so we can withdraw money but unfortunately, there was no available machine. There was one in a PNB branch but the people in line were not sure they can withdraw funds. They were only given a 50/50 chance. We decided to wait and see if they can withdraw but unfortunately, they were not able to do it. The machine went offline and so the line got dispersed. We went from bank machine to bank machine but there was nothing. We decided to go home instead.

But we tried looking for a bakeshop to buy bread too but can't find anything. We reached Jojies and found they only have crackers so we ended up having that too, they all ran out of bread as their machine requires electricity too!

Power is definitely a necessity in this generation. We hope that we can buy a generator soon so we atleast power up some electrical devices like the electric fan and our house lights. But it seems like we still have to wait.

On our way home, we found that the mobile signal is available in other parts of the province too. There was data in Baclayon, Loay, and in some parts of Lila. There was also signal in Jagna and there were so many people outside near the coast and were all on their phones. I know most of them are trying to contact their loved ones and relatives from the other parts of the country and even internationally.

xoxo,

momentswithmatti

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