typhoon - Cerebral Insights

Late Night Reflections on Typhoon Yolanda

It’s late and I’m supposed to be sleeping for tomorrow is another work day. It feels as if everything this side of the world is so normal when in fact, a few hundred miles south from here, severely catastrophic towns exist. Towns which I have visited countless times when I was young. Towns which holds fond childhood memories for me. Towns where loved ones whose conditions remain unknown reside.

Typhoon Yolanda brought destruction never before seen in the Philippines. Entire towns and cities washed away. Destruction and death lay at her wake. People hopeless and desperate – not knowing how they can ever rise again. Businesses looted by hungry victims as security forces – the little of who were left – stood by and watched helplessly.

I really don’t know what to say. I remain at a loss for words. I have packed everything I can send to help. I have planned to sell whatever I can to have some cash to donate. I long to still be in the thick of things, helping out in whatever way I can – repacking, distributing, reporting. The devastation is so vast, the task at hand is so big – where do we start? Where do they begin to rebuild their lives?

I am grateful our province was spared. There were some coastal towns who were also badly affected but other than that everything is now back to normal. On the day the storm hit close to our place, I was locked inside my room, unable to sleep soundly. I can hear the howling winds and feel it beat against the walls and roof of our house. There were moments when everything would be silent – then the howling would begin once again. It was a storm of winds and less of rain. The rain was bearable but the winds were not. To this date, when the storm has long passed and our nights are much calmer, I can sometimes hear the winds howling in my mind and the accompanying fear of what it could do in the dead of the night.

But what I experienced was way less than what those who were near the eye of the storm experienced. They felt the brunt of the wind 4-5 times what I felt. Plus, they experienced majority of the rain. But what was worse were the storm surges – a term which until recently held no meaning for me. I have never encountered the term storm surge and like many other people have no idea of the damage it entailed. Had I known storm surge would mean tidal waves that could create floods 10 feet deep, I would have been scared but nonetheless better prepared. I believe the same could be true for the hundreds who drowned, all because they didn’t understand the term and did not seek higher grounds thinking where they evacuated was enough.

It is heartbreaking to see the photos of devastation. It is heart wrenching to hear the pleas of people for food, water and shelter and to see those who lost loved ones moving along like zombies without aim or purpose. Restoration of power they say would take 2 months, and that is being optimistic. Restoration of communication lines is hoped to happen sooner. From there relief goods could be delivered to even the remotest hit area. But debris has yet to be cleaned from roads to unblock them. Houses and establishments have to be rebuilt. Hospitals, schools, government buildings, churches and other public spaces have to be re-constructed to better serve the affected people. Businesses have to re-establish themselves as they re-stock and fix their establishments. Whole towns and cities have to be reconstructed and repaired.

But more than the physical repair that would take 2 – 6 months at most, the people’s faith, hope and lives have to be reconstructed as well. Hope has to be re-instilled in their hearts that things will turn out for the better despite the massive destruction and the immense trial they have been through. Faith has to be strengthened in their minds that they have the capacity to rebuild their lives and that there is still an Almighty that looks after them. Their lives are severely battered. Those who lost families might have lost the will to live. Some have already migrated to other places leaving their destructed town believing that their lives there are over.

More than the cash and in-kind donations we send out to them, prayers would still be a lot of help. For as the cash and in-kind donations would provide them with the basic necessities of food, clothes and shelter, our prayers will help strengthen their resolve and give them hope, faith and their lives back again.

In Photos: Aftermath Of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) In Philippines (ahmadalijetplane.wordpress.com)
TIMELINE: Super Typhoon Yolanda (rappler.com)
In Photos: 10,000 Feared Killed By Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) In Philippines (ahmadalijetplane.wordpress.com)
How to help Visayas victims of Typhoon Yolanda (feastfulife.wordpress.com)

The Lure of Manila

Often times I am led to wonder how life would be different had I ventured forth in Manila and sought employment there. Many times I still like to think back on the what if’s of my career path. What if I haven’t left Manila? What if I applied for a work in Manila? What if I worked in Manila? Would life be different?

Of course it would! Instead of the relaxed jeepney ride I go through daily, passing through rice fields and inhaling fresh air, I would be subjected to the highly stressful bus/jeepney/MRT ride passing through rows and rows of buildings, through hours of traffic, squeezing through throngs of people and inhaling polluted air. Instead of waking up two hours, sometimes even an hour and a half, before work time and having lots of time to spare for breakfast, preparation and travel, I would be waking up 4 to 3 hours before work time and be rushing through the day, eating while travelling.

Yet there is the promise of a higher compensation and the threat of higher living costs. There is the promise of greater career glory (more internationally known companies and brands) yet the threat of being too far away from the top and thus a slave of lower management.

But the biggest difference for me – a very big defining factor actually, would be the way Manila has been hit by typhoons recently. And the scary outcomes of such.

Continue reading “The Lure of Manila”

Aftermath

I can hardly believe that the sun is already out and shining. After a really stormy night which rendered a lot of streets non-passable in Naga City thus prompting the company to postpone our training for the night, one could hardly expect the sun to shine the morning after. But it did and everyone is grateful that the storm Pepeng (international name Parma) did not make landfall in Camarines Sur. For hardly anyone could imagine what would happen if it did especially since a lot of places were already flooded (Lake Buhi, and perhaps Bicol River, had already overflowed) when only the outer radius of Pepeng had hit the province.

And it seems that this parade of storms hasn’t yet ended for already another one – Melor, is brewing in the horizon. The good news, though, is that Melor would just enter the Philippine seas then head straight to Japan with Pepeng following at its wake. At least that was what I heard on the news and what I hope would be true. The country, especially Luzon, cannot bear another storm. Not after the devastation Ondoy has wrought, which after all the objective facts the media has supplied last week, still brings forth the personal stories of those stranded, traumatized and worst hit by nature’s wrath.

Reading an email which supplied the blog entry of a person about people who experienced the disaster first-hand, I came to realize the surge of flood waters in Provident Village and other surrounding areas could have been anything but the usual flood indeed. Such sudden influx of waters could only be the result if a huge water source had released water supplies it had been holding back. Normal flooding occurs whenever a body of water overflows to the land area surrounding it. This flood would constitute a steady rising water enough to at least forewarn people to do something rash about it. But if the flood waters came as a sudden surge leaving people with no time to save anything except themselves, then that means that a huge volume of water had been previously blocked then released all too suddenly. As such, my mom (and I cannot help but agree) speculates that probably one of the dams had a leak or suddenly released water. For how could it be that such rainfalls, no matter how heavy, could cause such severe floods in such a short matter of time?

Then again, the flood was further amplified by the blatant environmental disregard of most people, especially when it came to waste disposal. As what a lot of people blame for the devastation, the lack of proper waste management had been the cause of the wreck experienced by the Metro. In part, this is true and I hope a wake-up call had been served to everyone that nature cannot always be fooled.

It was also stated that the Laguna the Bay’s water levels had risen to levels that would really flood low lying places in the Metro. Authorities have even forewarned people, only now, that they should seek shelter in higher lands. Climate change had apparently hastened this process that is supposed to take years.

Still a lot were also outraged at the action the government had taken over the situation. A lot of the stranded people in Provident Village were apparently rescued through the personal efforts of friends (good thing they had rich friends who either had or could afford motor boats) since it would take hours before government rescue efforts could be made. And this particular writer was even irked that government units depicted his friend as the one from the government doing relief operations when it clearly wasn’t true.

Furthermore, PAGASA laments that they could have better warned the people of the impending disaster had they been able to predict the rainfall that Ondoy brought. And for this they would need an upgrade of their equipments which clearly demands some funds. Unfortunately, our government had misaligned budget appropriations and as such their request could not be granted even when they had made it several years ago.

The disaster had struck. We are left with its aftermath. Countless lives now need to be rehabilitated; restarted all over again. Lessons have been taught; the blaming game had begun. Disasters similar to what had just happened, and probably even worse, will strike again. This is an inevitable fact of being a tropical country facing the Pacific. Yet devastations from such natural disasters can be averted or properly addressed if only we would all learn to do our part.

too much devastation…and it may not be over yet

I felt the rage of Ondoy’s devastation because I lacked Internet connection. For me, that was the extent of the damage the typhoon caused – I was disconnected from the world. We do not have the luxury of television in our house so combined with the radio, the Internet is the only way we can know what is happening outside the walls of our home. Unbelievable? Believe it. It’s true.

Now, I have reconnected and the things I’m seeing – the pictures and videos, plus the posts I’m reading – in Facebook and other blogs, are appalling, devastating and quite painful for me. I can see the place I’ve considered home for 5 years wrecked into unimaginable proportions. I have never imagined that Manila and the surrounding localities could be devastated as such. Deep down, I want to be in the center of things – offering my physical help to those in need. I have no money or extra stuff to donate, all I have is myself and my willingness to offer physical labor for the good of all. I have no doubt that if I was still living in QC I will be out there, in the relief centers, volunteering my time and energy. Yet I am here. And I am thankful for that. And all I can offer now are my prayers that everything turn out well for everyone.

***

Now in the course of my vigilant watch over the Facebook status messages, I have come to discover several things.

1.) Politicians are certainly taking this disaster to aid them in their own greedy means. I am not generalizing everyone – I mean I saw a post in Facebook of a photo of a packed meal bearing the terms “Tulong Mula Kay Manny Villar”. Amazing that people had time to actually print out those labels, cut them and tape them on the relief goods. And funny how, in our country, when we do good things, we should inform people where the good deeds came from. Isn’t it stated in the Bible that we must do our giving in secret and not announce it to the world with trumpets and so much fanfare (Matthew 6:1-4)? Yet some people like some of our politicians can’t seem to grasp the concept of anonymous giving or giving for giving’s sake. Why can’t they be like some famous people who didn’t thought of who they are but instead only thought of how they can help? Oh well, at least relief is handed out to those who need it. And I hope that this does not cloud the judgements of the voting public.

2. The devastation wrought about by Typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) has attracter internation attention wherein even Hollywood stars are mobilizing themselves to help out. It’s no longer just the Filipino International Community that is eager to help but even foreigners as well. Let’s just hope that their reliefs come as they have sent it – not modified to look as if it came from some other enterprising politician or worst, screened by some greedy “custom officials”.

3.) The typhoon Ondoy didn’t discriminate between rich or poor when it came to the devastation it wrought. However, how people cope with the aftermath displayed social status like no othe tragedy can. I heard in the radio that the people in Provident Village, which have been badly affected by the flood also, have really interesting means of salvaging their homes – that is if the choose to salvage it. The reporter said the owners of the house went to hotels to spend their days there while leaving their house help to fend for the house. Furthermore, some have hired people (the announcer made a joke that it could be construction firms) just to clean the houses of mud. However, it cannot be denied that most of their really expensive appliances suffered the same damage as any other less privileged person’s appliance.

4.) It is touching to see the numerous posts in Facebook relating to relief and rescure operations for Ondoy. Indeed, there’s nothing like a tragedy this enormous in magnitude to draw out the bayanihan nature of Pinoys. And it is touching to see that we can still unite, make merry of circumstances even.

Two more typhoons are expected to hit the country, where they will actually wreack havoc is unknown, as of now. We can only watch and pray that they no longer cause havoc as devastating as the one that had just passed. The devastations, as I believe I said in my earlier post, had a lot to teach us – issues on pollution and littering, issues on proper preventive measures, issues on emergency funds supposedly misaligned, abusive politicians, the need for the country to repent of its sins and pray more, etc. There’s a lot to be learned and I hope that, even with the dawn of the 2 upcoming typhoons, we have learned our lessons.

***

Here’s a video I found in Facebook.

***

My apologies to those who don’t have Facebook accounts. Apparently, you have to be logged in to FB to be able to view some of the links here, most of which are video links. If I find a way of posting the videos directly here, I will certainly edit this post and do so. 😀 In any case, here’s another touching story connected to Ondoy: Philippine man loses own life after saving dozens from floods.

ondoy yet again

Reading people’s wall post in Facebook and other’s personal blog entries, I see the reality of the devastation Ondoy has wrought our country, particularly Manila and it’s adjoining places. The calls for volunteers, the postings of where relief points are located, the desperate posts attempting to locate missing loved ones and the personal narratives of the horror some had to undergo during the hours of the typhoon that may go down in the annals of history as one of the worst ones to ever hit the country, for me, adds a personal tone to the otherwise straightforward news I hear and read.

Every second I read what actually happened in Manila – the water levels rising to the second floors and sometimes to the roof; the ultra-jam packed train stations with some stations shutting down due to lost of power; the mass of stranded people – hungry, desperate and worried; I can’t help but be thankful of the decision I made some months ago – the decision to stay in the province, partly permanently, and uproot myself from the Manila I have become deeply rooted to. Yet deep down, together with the gratitude I feel is a longing to be there – with my friends in Manila (and there are a LOT of them) and help out in whatever physical way I can – giving out relief goods, offering shelter if I have one, being part of rescue operations themselves. Furthermore I worry about how they are, how they are faring, how their houses are, how their relatives are. I watch every Facebook post, every yahoo group message, every text message like a hawk awaiting to see what happened or what is happening to my friends. I can hardly believe that less than a week ago I was in Manila and everything seemed just like the way it was before. Now, I’m afraid things have changed. Manila will never be the same again.

I hope that what transpired will teach us some lessons. Every disaster is an opportunity to learn, if anything else. Somehow, this goes to show that we should never be lax in our mitigating measures for incidents like this. Hopefully, in the future, such an incident will no longer repeat itself for if it does, then pity to us indeed.

bagyo. baha. first time?

Buti may internet na. Akala ko matatapos ang dalawang araw na day-off ko ng di man lang ako nakakagamit ng Internet. Nasira na mga halaman ko sa Farmville dahil na-miss ko ang harvest time ko. Nilalangaw na sa dumi ang pet ko sa Pet Society dahil nakalimutan ko syang paliguan. At sangkaterba na ulit ang messages sa inbox ko galing sa kung anu-anong yahoo groups na kinabibilangan ko. Mahirap pala ang mawalan ng internet connection kahit ilang araw lang. Di nga kami binaha, di nga brown-out, pero wala naman net.

Subalit ng mabasa ko ang news at makita ang pictures ng nangyari sa Manila, Marikina at iba pang malalapit na lugar, at ng mabasa ko ang laman ng sangkaterbang group messages sa email inbox ko, napatigil ako at naisip kung gaano kapalad ng buhay ko. At least wala na ako sa Manila sa mga panahon na to. Pinaka grabe na atang bagyo na naranasan ko noong nasa Manila pa ako ay yung Bagyong Milenyo kung saan an daming puno sa UP ang nagbagsakan at ilang araw kaming walang kuryente. Nakakatakot ang kadiliman sa campus noon.

Dahil sa wala naman kaming TV sa bahay, internet at radyo na talaga ang main source ng news – bihira na nga gamitin ang radyo. Iba parin pala ang makita ang tindi ng hagupit ng bagyo sa pamamagitan ng pictures at videos sa net. Iba parin ang dating na makabasa ng sandamakmak na messages tungkol sa kung anu-anong relief operations. Iba parin ang makabasa ng real-life accounts ng mga tao na naranasan ang hagupit ng bagyo na di nila inaasahan.

Malimit bagyuhin ang Pilipinas. Kalimitan narin ang bumaha at mag-landslide o magdulot pa ng kung anu-anong pinsala ang mga bagyo. Subalit bihira, sobrang bihira, na ang maapektuhan ng sobrang lupit ay ang sentro ng bansa. Gulat na gulat nga ako ng marinig ko na halos lampas tao na ang baha sa mga lugar na hindi naman kalimitan binabaha sa Metro Manila.

Ano nga kaya ang rason bakit binaha ang Manila? Sobrang malakas lang ba talaga ang ulan o may mga drainage systems na hindi umaandar? Kulang ba ang mga preventive measures na dapat sana ginawa ng gobyerno? Epekto ba ito ng global warming?

Ewan. Di ko pa masasagot ng isang scientific and well-researched answer kung bakit Manila ang worst-hit ng bagyong Ondoy. Pero hindi lang baha ang nagawang salanta ng Ondoy. Pati cyberspace puno ng maiinit na salita at palitan ng kurkuro dahil sa epekto ng bagyong ito at sa pagiging insensitive ng ibang mga tao. Saka na ako mag-bblog tungkol dito. Magbabasa muna ako ng posts nila. Mag-fafarmville. At matutulog. 😀

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