In the Darkness: A Nightmare before Christmas Experience

December 16, 2021 (Thursday)

This date will be marked forever in my existence, for on this day, I felt an emotion that's full of fear.

On the morning of the 16th of December, the weather was unstable, it rained on and off and the whole sky was gloomy and dark, but on that cold morning, I greeted my mother through chat about her happiest birthday.

This date is always special to us, especially in my hometown, for on this specific date we celebrated our Opening Salvo for the Iwag Festival. To know about Iwag Festival, you can read it here: My Hometown's Iwag Festival

But because of the pandemic, for two years now, we never had the Christmas vibes we had years and years ago.

While reading the news updates, I saw a monstrous image of the upcoming typhoon, Odette. It was huge and through the satellite image, the Philippines was almost covered and can't be seen because of the vast clouds and wind it brings.

I can't help but be anxious, I was praying that this gigantic typhoon vanished before it damage my fellow countrymen especially in the Visayas region and in Mindanao where it will land.

It was 2 pm when I saw on the news that the typhoon first landed on Siargao Island. While my hometown was currently in signal number 2. We were very worried, my cousin and I kept on talking about how huge the realm of the said the super typhoon was.

Also, I read the news that Panay Island could feel the massive typhoon in the evening until the next morning.

That news made us all vigilant and bothered at the same time, knowing we will be struck by the typhoon in the middle of the darkness.

We prepared our dinner ahead of time, we took our meals early than the usual juncture we had dinner every normal day. At that moment, we were already in signal number 3.

Since we were only four at home, my two boys and my husband, my eldest son requested to sleep over at his grandfather's house who's our neighbor. We agreed to let him sleep over there so if ever an emergency happens he would be safe there.

It was 7 pm when I put to sleep my secondborn, when he was deeply asleep, my husband and I kept on tracking the weather updates online. Then it was past 8 pm when we both decided to have a cup of coffee when we heard the wind start to strike harder and seem growling.

When the clock turned to 9 o'clock the power interruption started up. I immediately used the USB led lamp I got from my Shopee free items. I used the laptop of my father and I have it fully charged in the afternoon ready for such a situation.

Gladly, despite I don't have a power bank or emergency light, I am still fortunate to think of an alternative way so we couldn't experience total darkness the whole night. And it stayed up until the morning comes. ☺

The wind kept on blowing severely, roaring and howling and as the night gets deeper it keeps on getting powerful too.

I am so worried while reading some news updates that the typhoon was striking on Cebu City at that moment, it means it's still miles away from us here in Iloilo but the strength of its wind was already unbearable. l and massive.

My cousin and I kept our contact with each other though she lives nearby, we still checked on each other on messenger. We both heard houses getting unroofed, and branches of trees breaking. We kept on praying that night for the safety of everyone.

I devastatingly looked at the photos and other footage posted online by my Facebook friends from Cebu. Their places were wiped out, some were still stuck from their houses slammed by a huge tree. I couldn't sleep, and I planned not to sleep, it's seems like a nightmare, a terrible nightmare.

The typhoon was too slow-moving, and that's making the suffering and misery longer too.

And you know what makes me worry so much?

It's the tall mahogany tree beside our house.

Since the wind was too intense, I am worried the tree might fall and smash our house, and knowing it's happening on a cold night without electricity made me uneasy.

My husband let me nap for an hour and I woke up at 11 pm. I was awakened by the roaring winds hitting our roofs and the trees all around. I told him to rest too and I will stay awake to watch over our family.

When midnight came, the wind became sharper up to the following hours.

By the way, I kept on track with the typhoon through this page.
https://www.facebook.com/104046854616345/posts/490568642630829/?app=fbl

It gave us time to time updates about the typhoon.

And the moment it landfalls to Negros Island, I could feel intenser winds. Every time I heard the harsh gusts I just prayed again and again. I felt I was waiting when will it be over?

It's 4 am when I told my husband if I could take a quick sleep for a moment and he agreed. I woke up at 5 am hoping things will be better but still, the strong winds were there, making a growling sound.

Ps: Imagine a huge truck in a full highspeed passing by on the road, that's how we described what the sound of the wind was similar. It's not a typical whistle, it's rumbling plus the sound of the clanking roofs made it more horrible to hear.

We were just thankful there were only moderate to light rains while we were being struck by the typhoon, we were somehow relieved to be a little stress-free from thinking of the water levels on the river.

Our place wasn't hit by the typhoon directly, it didn't make landfall on the island, it just passes by on the Panay Gulf but it was already damaging. So I couldn't imagine how destructive it was while passing by different places where it took landfall.

When the morning came, we still don't have electricity but as the daylight came, we saw the damages done, the debris from the trees, some potted plants were knocked down too even they were placed on the ground. The signage and the roofs of some establishments and houses were taken off too by the strong wind.

That night was indeed a nightmare, knowing some families might celebrate the upcoming Christmas day with a house or even lose a loved one.

We were just thankful we survived the terrible night, we were unharmed, safe, and dry. But my heart goes to the victims of the said typhoon. I am praying for their protection and fast healing as well.

Disasters like this are natural, we can't stop calamities to happen but we could always prepare and ready ourselves ahead before disastrous things happen.

In such circumstances, we should always focus our minds, prepare for possible emergencies, calm our senses, be aware, and don't forget our greatest armor, prayer, and faith to God Almighty that we will survive it.

Are you from Visayas and Mindanao too who experienced the typhoon? I hope you and your family are currently safe. 🙏🏻

Thanks for reading!

Written by: @eommaZel ✍🏻🥀