We're in the year 2016 - that's three years after Yolanda ravaged the Philippines. We all know about how much of a deluge it was. So many lives lost. Too much destruction. I remember when the storm died down and I and my family went out of our home (what's left of it) and saw for the first time the unspeakable damage that Yolanda brought. "How do we rise up from something like this?", I thought. And we didn't even have the worst brunt. The Taclobanons and the residents other coastal towns in Leyte and Samar had it worse.
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| My home at San Diego, Burauen, Leyte a few hours after Yolanda left. |
Flashback
On November 7, 2013, a day before Yolanda happened, the weather was gloomy but it wasn't even raining hard yet. Work and classes were canceled because according to the news, a very strong typhoon was coming and we all needed to prepare. The thing was, we Warays are kind of used to the idea of having typhoons every year, so some of us were easy to brush it off as "just another typhoon". Some of us actually prepared but since we have no idea of how strong a super typhoon could be, the preparations just fell short. Some of us were like me: was Facebooking all day. I've read on my timeline that said that the incoming typhoon's strength could lift a bulldozer. I thought it could also raise an eyebrow - mine. Apparently, there were so many others like me who didn't heed the warning.
It turned out that the warnings were true. Yolanda was unlike anything that we have seen in our entire lives. It was a nightmare and I prayed that nothing of its magnitude would ever happen again in our country. But there has been a juggernaut that entered our country every year thereafter; I've experienced Ruby in 2014 and Nona in 2015 and for this year alone, we've had at least 2 or 3 strong ones. And the year isn't over yet.
On Yolanda's third anniversary, I'm sharing some photos which were taken with our trusty digital camera, which luckily didn't get drenched or wasn't easily battery drained. I wish I'd taken a photo of my sister carrying those damaged GI sheets, just so we have an evidence of her strength when she is under adrenaline rush. But, here we are. :)
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| Lamp and electrical posts were down. A few weeks later, my sister and I took the time to touch the tops of the posts. Hey, it's a bragging right, being able to touch the top of the post, albeit a fallen one. ;) |
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| Spot the big white clouds at the end of the road. There's going to be a great weather tomorrow. But how do we get to tomorrow with all of these? And how we dreaded the coming of the night. Photo taken on the afternoon of November 8, 2013. |
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| My energetic grandma surveys the destruction. My brother may just be thinking about what we will be having for dinner. Wait, what?! We actually forgot about breakfast and lunch. |
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| My high school, the Burauen Comprehensive National High School. |
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| The Burauen Comprehensive National High School, days after Yolanda. |
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| The Burauen North Central School, days after Yolanda. |
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| Must have been taken by my father, somewhere in the Palo area. |
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| My momma's school, the Burauen National High School. |
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| The Burauen National High School, days after Yolanda. |
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| "We's havin' a great weather", that's why my kid and my younger brother were relaxing on the floor. But remember.... |
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| ...we still had no roofing. |
We had our roof fixed about four weeks after Yolanda, just in time for the Burauen Town Fiesta. We wished we had a faster way to get things fixed but construction materials went scarce for a time., and well, it was just chaotic. After which, we took the baby steps towards the "pagbangon" or "pagtindog" process. We did whatever we could to have a nice Christmas and New Year, not without stories about Yolanda to keep us on our toes. We knew we would be talking about her for years and years to come. No matter how badly things went, Yolanda still brought out the best in us. There will be stories of bravery and courage, along with those that bring tears to our eyes. And that particular night when just about everyone I knew (and thousands more that I didn't) evacuated to higher ground for fear of a tsunami; that one was dangerous. But admit it, it was also funny from one perspective.
We've come a long way from November 2013. We've risen up from the ashes. But I think we still have a long way to go. There is the issue of Climate Change and how it mainly affects us.
This is in remembrance to all of those whose lives were lost. This is also in gratitude to those who made great sacrifices to help their fellowmen.
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| Tin adds the finishing touch to our tree. December 2013 |
P.S.
I wish I'd found a way to keep my post-Yolanda weight. (!,!)
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