Typhoon Odette's Judgement: Unforgettable Experiences

Draft Written: 12/17-18/2021

12:14PM|#160|10TH

Hello! Hello! Hello my read.cash family!👋😊How are you? Its been a while since the last time I published an article in here. I know some of you here been wondering why I was not around for this long. "I MISS YOU!":(( I REALLY AM!" Well, as you can see in the title above, you may have your hint already. And yes, the main reason of my disappearance was because of typhoon "Odette." Amidst the situation we've been through, still I thanked God because my family were all safe.

It was December 16, 2021, super typhoon "Odette" hit the southern part portion of Visayas region. I received a lot of notifications came from "NDRRMC-National Disaster Risk Reduction Management and Council", where we were advised to take care of ourselves because of the said typhoon.

"At talaga namang timing din siya, sa monthsary pa talaga namin ni MGD." Two days before the landfall of the said typhoon, we already felt the unusual heavy rainfalls in our barrio. We also experienced sudden brownouts and "No network connection" or "unavailable Internet connection." Some of the "Barangay Police" informed us about the coming of typhoon "Odette". We were advised to pack or secure all the necessary things like flashlights, medical kits, and foods (e.g. can goods, noodles, water). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pack all the necessary things I have mentioned, because I was then so nervous and I've got terrified. Gladly, MGD was there to comfort me, but still I only secure the important documents and some food.

At around 3 pm, the wind started to blew out. I was shocked that after few minutes the tree of "Mansanitas" near our house falled on the ground. My papa went outside and saw it blocking the road. So, he called for a rescue to cut the tree into pieces. Some of our neighbors helped to clean the road even the rain was still pouring out.

Few hours later, the wind already blew out heavily. The coconut tress outside our house feels like dancing in the wind and rain. I got scared even its wasn't the first time I experienced it. (My first was during typhoon "Yolanda") And its feels like I was really in great danger. My papa then told me to get inside together with MGD. As for my mama, she was worried for our raised pigs and chickens. And as for my pet "Iking" he was just kept on following us around and then hide under our bed. I also felt that he was so scared.

Around 6:30 pm, my mama and papa told us, (MGD and I) that we should eat our dinner already so that we didn't got an empty stomach that night, knowing that there was a heavy rain and wind blows. The surroundings was filled with darkness. Our only main source of light was our flashlights. And then suddenly, we heard a loud sound like, "Boom" or "Bang". Something like that. My papa looked at the window and he saw that there was a coconut tree fell off the ground and our bamboo gate was being hit along with the electric wires. MGD made me calmed again because I really got scared knowing that it almost hit our house. My papa told me that we should get inside my room. But I said to MGD that we should go to my parents' room. ("Paiyak na ako nun, natakot talaga ako sa nagyari.")

MGD agreed to what I suggested, maybe because he was then worried too. We went to my parents' room and had some time to talk about the situation. As the conversation goes on, the typhoon same goes through. What really got me terrified, was when we heard a scream outside our house. ("Hindi ko alam ko'ng nanghihingi pa nang tulong or kung ano, kasi ang lakas na talaga nung ulan tas ang hangin din.")

"Nung medyo humina na yung hangin at ulan, napagpasyahan namin na bumalik na ulit sa kwarto ko, to check kung hindi ba naabutan ng tulo yung higaan ko. Tumagas na kasi yung tubig, dumaloy na sa kisami sa kwarto ko. Nung patila na talaga yung ulan, we decided to take some rest na kasi antok na antok na talaga ako, pati sina MGD, papa at mama ko, hanggang sa kinaumagahan..."

THE NEXT DAY..

At that time, I woke early because of the noise I've heard outside caused by our neighbors. Its not irritating though, I mean I understand their side of making noise. Mostly, they talked about the houses being destroyed by the typhoon. While MGD was still sleeping, I went outside my room and..."Bumungad talaga sa'kin yung basa naming living room."

I went to our kitchen. I was shocked when I saw that our kitchen's roof looked like this;

"OMG! Wala nang bubong sa kusina. As in, pati yung lubid na itinali ni papa sa kabilang bahagi nang kusina namin, natanggal na. Buti nalang at hindi talaga tuluyang bumagsak."

After that, I went outside our house. "Bumulaga naman sa'kin yung bumagsak na malaking puno ng niyog na sumira sa gate namin na kawayan lang. Mga kabli nang kuryente, mga wala nang "Palwa" na niyog. Yung malapit na makalbo na niyog ba."

My Aunt called up for me, asking me to took some pictures. Luckily, I turned off my phone, that's why I still been able to capture some photos that day.

This was our yard looked like the day after typhoon "Odette".

Some of our neighbor's so-called "home", but look at that. It was all ruined by the typhoon. There were some of them where they lost their houses, totally. "Wala talagang natira. As in, sira talaga yung buong bahay." I came back at our house and I woke up MGD and the two of us, joined the others going in our "barrio proper" to see what had happened in there.

My mama was wiping off her tears, while us were showing our zombie-like faces. Hehe.. "We don't have enough sleep kasi. Hayaan niyo na. Lol.XD" I then informed my mama that MGD and I will go to our barrio proper. She nodded, which means that she allowed us to go then. As we go on walking, I took the opportunity to take some pictures.

"Ang dami ding mga naputol na mga puno, klase-klase. May mga puno nang niyog, langka, at papaya. Mayroon ding mga bayabas, at mangga." Later on, we arrived in there, and...

"Niyupi talaga yung covered-court namin." Isang haligi nalang ang natira, at may chance pang matumba din." I didn't imagine that it will really happen to it. "Covered-court na yun eh. Tas, look at it, nasira talaga. Parang tinuping damit lang."

Look at our High School's classrooms. The students' modules were all wet. Including the school's television and printers. The projects and other school equipments. Gladly, the teachers already kept it safe all the necessary documents like the forms (e.g. form 137). But still, got worried and sad about what happened to the classrooms. "Saan na sila mag-si-stay, when they have school duties? Pa'no na yung mga nabasang gamit? Yung mga modules? Other papers? Maisasalba pa kaya?"

After staying in there for almost an hour, we decided to go home so that we can eat our breakfast. Together with my Aunt, and my cousins, MGD and I, went back home.

end...

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I should say, it was my very first time to experience such kind of disaster. Honestly, I was thinking that I can only such kind of scenarios in the news from other places with the same situation. "Iba pala talaga ang takot, kaba, lungkot...basta, hindi ko ma-explain yung emosyon."

Unlike typhoon Yolanda, in this typhoon, "Ang daming sirang kabahayan at kabuhayan sa lugar namin." WHAT NOW? What will happen to us now? Our basic commodities? Where can we find it now? "Tuba-gathering" is impossible because almost all coconut trees were affected. "Pakalbo na nga yung iba sa kanila." My papa said, "it will need 3 to 5 years for these coconut trees to produce lots of "Tuba" again." So, where can we get our money now to buy our food, water, and other supplies, especially for our house that was ruined by the typhoon? As for my job in this platform, I still have a hard time in connecting to the Internet. I have a small hodlings but honestly, its not enough to fix our kitchen. It can only be enough to buy our food supplies for a month, and I can't withdraw it because of poor Internet connection. (It will take some time to process it.) Also, the remittances near us were still close for now. "Kung meron man, ang haba nang pila."

"Hahay! I know, pagsubok lang 'to. Malalampasan din namin 'to. I know, hindi lang kami ang nasalanta. How much more pa yung nataas sa signal number 4 na mga lugar, di ba? Laban parin nang laban! I know, God is with us! May rason bakit nangyari ang lahat nang ito. At may rason parin tayo na magpasalamat sa Kanya for keeping us all safe, despite what happened to our houses and our means of living. It means, we still have a reason to go on our lives, even we have to start all over again.

We should hold on to our faith and believe that, "God will Provide!" And without a doubt, HE WILL!

#LABAN PA RIN SA 2022!💪

Thank you for reading!

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!😇

Lead Image source:

Taken and edited by yours truly.

(I can't upload some photos, maybe because of poor signal.)

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_renren16💚_