Four Months After Typhoon Yolanda

Last Tuesday, hubby and I decided to visit our hometown, Tacloban City. I was missing home and my family. Since, it was a last minute decision on a Monday night and there was no time to book a flight, we took a much longer travel 2.5 hours ride by sea and 2 hours ride by land. Our boat ride was at 5:30 am. I do not really like traveling by boat because of seasickness, but I endure the 2.5 hours of travel because of this

For the first time in many years I was able to see the sunrise. It was beautiful. Such an amazing creation of God.

Upon arriving Ormoc City, we rode a van to take us to Tacloban City a 2 hours drive. Ormoc City is one of the hardest hit by the Super Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda, in Tacloban it was both the storm surge and strong winds that wreaked havoc , in Ormoc it was the strong wind. I saw roofless structures / houses even trees lay flat as if the leaves in one direction.

This is outside the city proper of Ormoc.

We arrived in Tacloban City around 11:00 am. In the afternoon I slept mostly I was still feeling dizzy. Electricity in our place was restored the following day.

My parent's house was partially damaged, half of the roof were flown( a tarpaulin temporarily shelter them from the rains.), a few shattered windows and kitchen door damage. Their small business which  is house rental was severely damaged. 

An old house actually of my parents which they turned to house for rent.

It would take them months to rebuild both house and a lot of money. But we are more grateful that they survived the typhoon and no one was hurt.

For the next couple of days, hubby and I went around the city. It's been more than four months since typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan but the damage and destruction is still visible. Collapsed houses, roofless structures/houses. Relief operations are still abundant. Help is really coming both foreign and the government. Through the good hearts of these people, the people of Tacloban are starting to pick up the pieces and are hopefully recovering.

Here are a few photos

 San Jose area

A beach resort in San Jose going to the airport.

Airport of Tacloban.

Palo, Leyte

Palo Gym. 

Palo, Leyte

Seminary

Mass grave

Tanuan, Leyte

Sto. Nino Church, Tacloban City

Yolanda

Today is exactly one month after the super typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. My parents, brothers, sister, nephew were in Tacloban during the super typhoon. During that time, I was not worried because we get at least twenty typhoons every year and  somehow we know how to deal with typhoons. But when I saw the news reports, photos and videos in fb I started to panic and get  worried. It was the worst and strongest typhoon.My worries was tripled when I could not reach them through calls and texts. Nov. 8,my husband decided to go to Tacloban to check on them. Through the help of a Navy friend he was able to get a ride to Tacloban. I was not sleeping well I was so worried. Nov. 10, I received a text from my husband saying my family and relatives survived. Globe telecommunication was restored within the city proper only. Although our house was roofless and a few shattered windows still I am so grateful to hear that they are okay. It was decided to bring them here in Cebu and live with us temporarily for safety and health reasons. After 6 days, they finally arrived safely. Thank God! 
My husband who bravely went there experienced trauma,seeing dead bodies on the streets,the smell to the point that during his sleep he was dreaming of dead people he saw on the road and was screaming. Thankfully, after a few days he was back to normal.

When my family finally had a good rest, I asked mama what transpired on that fateful day. Mama said around 7am strong winds was felt. Rain was pouring also. Suddenly, our roof was flown away. Although, our house has an attic water was dripping everywhere. Windows were shattered. Our kitchen door was flown as well as the dinning table and chairs.Front door was about to give up too. The ground floor of our house was flooded. Trees was uprooted. Mama saw our neighbor's houses destroyed. They were all afraid. She feared that our house would collapse if the storm will not stop.Thankfully, the storm stop. Mama said they did not know that areas in downtown and San Jose was almost wiped out and that many died because of the storm surge. Until, they saw it on television. 

My heart breaks every now and then when I received news of someone we know did not survived. May their soul rest in peace.

Christmas is fast approaching already and I'm having a difficult time celebrating because of what happen. But I am forever grateful that I still have my family and I get to spend more time with them. 

I pray that God heal our land and give us the strength to overcome this tragedy. I also pray for those lives lost during the typhoon.

****If you want to see the catastrophic damage of Tacloban,here's a link of photos .Please click here. The person behind the photos lived in Tacloban and was there when typhoon  Yolanda made its landfall.