I can still remember that late afternoon back in 1984. I thought that the typhoon was over. Little did I know that it was the calm before a major catastrophe. From our living room window, I saw the waters coming in slowly and as a 10-year old, thinking it was just going to be ankle high, I pulled my brother outside to play with the water. Then, muddy waters started coming in and kept getting higher and higher. We were all in a frenzy trying to save our furniture and appliances. The toppling down of our big refrigerator was our signal that we should get out, leave everything behind. It was like a movie scene but unfortunately it was real. My father carried me over his shoulders. We lived in a bungalow house and we had to get to the neighbour’s house that had a second floor. Our house is a few meters away from the road and it was a major struggle for my father treading carefully over the strong current and the rising waters. We looked back and my mother was left behind and struggling to keep up. My brother went back to help her. We were on the main road and the water was already chest high for the adults. I saw a carabao (water buffalo) float past us, followed by other items that I can’t identify. Finally, we were able to reach the neighbor’s house and they pulled us up along with the others looking for elevated ground. It was already dark that time. Wet and shivering, with gas lamps as our light, we were all in a state of shock and disbelief. If we were a few minutes late, we would not have made it as waters soared up to 7-8 feet.
This was Typhoon Nitang known internationally as Typhoon Ike. I googled it and it was the second deadliest typhoon in the Philippines in the 20th century with winds up to 230 kph. The first one was Typhoon Amy back in 1951. For Typhoon Nitang, Visayas and Mindanao islands were the hardest hit. Overall, 1,474 people died, thousands left homeless and brought a damage of $230 million to the country. This was back in the 80’s so this amount is already pretty significant.
The next day the waters subsided but it left so much devastation around us. We went back to our house and the mud was just so thick, ugly and smelly. We salvaged some clothes to wash/dry up, looked around for other belongings we can recover. Fortunately, my mother always had a stock of canned goods from our monthly groceries from the city and these were in the cupboards. We had to contend ourselves with the soaked grain of rice - ignored the taste when cooked along with luncheon meat, sardines, pork and beans, etc. It was weeks of that and occasional dried fish as part of the relief from the government. It was endless days of cleaning up the house and the surrounding areas. What was heartbreaking and chilling was hearing of tragic stories of loss and destruction. This was my first lesson of valuing good health, relationships and life over material things. I was deeply grateful that God spared our family and sustained our health despite all the hazards from the food we ate, water we drank to our unclean environment. It was grueling months of getting back to normal but having our family together was a great motivation for all of us to move forward. It was heartwarming to see the good working among neighbours who shared what they had like fresh catch of fish, meat, and others. Each one had a ready hand to help with repairs needed. We are indeed not built to be by ourselves. We need help of others and vice versa. Above all, knowing that we have a Heavenly Father who will take care of us, calmed our fears and anxieties especially for my parents.
We built a second floor after this experience to prepare us for future floods and indeed we had a share of a few more. Another notable one was in 1990 under Typhoon Ruping (international name: Mike) with winds at 220 kph that left 748 deaths with a damage of $448 million. Our graduation class photos (taken early 1991) still bear marks of it in our school walls along with huge logs swept away from the mountains due to illegal logging. With climate change, flooding in the Philippines has now become a regular occurrence with growing intensity through the years.
This past week alone Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) slammed the country with winds of 215 kph leaving 69 dead/12 missing, damage of $87 million. Few weeks before that, the country was still recovering from three typhoons - Rolly (international name: Goni) with winds of 315kph that left 26 dead/6 missing, damage of $392 million. The other ones with lesser intensity were Typhoons Siony and Tonyo. Our hearts go out once again to families affected as we see the news, videos and photos of ruin these typhoons brought. Let’s take time to pray for the Philippines – for the aid to go to those who need them the most and in a timely manner. Let’s pray for wisdom for the government to prioritize and implement programs that will help the victims get back on their feet. Let’s pray for comfort for those who lost their loved ones. Let’s pray for those who lost their homes and belongings. Let’s pray for any corruption and wrongdoing by wicked men taking advantage of this dire situation to be exposed. Let’s help in a tangible way by coordinating with the following credible institutions.
The Lord is not deaf to the cries of the victims. In our limited human comprehension, we don’t know why He allows these things to happen. What we know is that He has a higher purpose unknown to us. It is a call for us as well to take care of this earth, to help causes that will protect it. Moreover, we are still living in an imperfect and fallen world. Jesus will come back to redeem it. While we are in this period, pain and suffering will not escape us. May we not lose faith and remain faithful and hopeful. May we focus our eyes to Jesus Christ who is the Lord not only over the floods but of all things.
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