NOVEMBER 8, 2013 will live in Philippine history as the "Scourge of Typhoon Yolanda." Typhoon Yolanda is a super typhoon, the worst to hit Mother Earth in 2013. Our country had experienced devastation in the past. We lost scores of lives but Yolanda is different. We experienced the strongest winds battering houses, commercial establishments, government infrastructures and plants. Many areas in the country were hit. Tacloban City in Leyte took center stage.
Tacloban, the capital of Leyte, is in Region 8-Eastern Visayas. It has a total land area of 21,432 kilometers. The major agricultural products are abaca, banana, tobacco, coconut and pineapple. Mining is a part of the people's livelihood - gold, silver, copper, iron, sand, gravel, cement, guano, coal, limestone, pyrite, salt and silica.
Super Typhoon Yolanda made its horrible entrance early morning of November 8. The local government was ready for the calamity because of the early warning. Residents in dangerous areas (near the shorelines) were evacuated ahead of time. There was food for the expected two- to three-day calamity. The preparation could not be enough to face Public Storm Warning Signal No. 4. There was the angry wind followed by the storm surge that did mopping operations.
Storm surge is an abnormal rise in the sea level around a coast, caused by the combination of a drop in atmospheric pressure and strong onshore winds. A storm surge usually causes a rise of around 30 centimeters but a 100 centimeters rise has been recorded. This was followed by bullet rain adding more water to the already flooded area. Super Typhoon Yolanda has exceeded the definition of storm. Chambers World Factfinder is only defining storm as a force II wind on the Beaufort scale, blowing at between 102 and 120 kph and in which widespread damage is caused.
Those who survived Super Typhoon Yolanda started to look for their missing relatives in the following hours. Government relief goods were not enough. Evacuation centers were also extensively damaged. Rescue and social workers were also dislocated. It took several hours for the government to regroup to assist the wounded, the hungry and the disoriented. There was no enough food and water. There was no electricity and communication could not be sent because media outlets and cell sites are also destroyed.
The residents started to experience that high level of despair and insecurity. The angry and hungry mob ruled. Looting of commercial establishments and warehouses took place. Human greed seeped into the clouded minds and hungry stomach. Hunger dominated ethics. What is good and what is right is overtaken by the instinct to survive. We know that God is there but not even the priests and the pastors could do something, not even the policemen and the security guards could do something. Maybe, just maybe, God allows this to happen to test His people.
When things come to complicate, bloated bodies were found scattered on the ground, near the shoreline, in the buildings, in the evacuation centers. Some were walking around with bladed weapon hunting for food. Some were also holding shotguns to protect their family and property. This is too much for a show. We do not want to reach a climax where someone kills because of hunger.
It is good to know that rescue teams from Metro Manila arrived with Red Cross staff. Our newspapers and TV news said that relief goods are there. This could be true but there are thousands of victims in many areas and many have not received a drop of water yet. Everybody should help. Politicians should stop pretending. Churches should open their money vaults. Nations of the world should send charity. We do not want to create zombies and let them walk our land as cannibals. We are Christians and we can always do better for ourselves. This calamity is worst but this will make us stronger Christians.
Have faith in God. Every man for himself and God for us all. "Cada uno en su casa y Dios en la de todos."*