I dream about a Cyclone
Cyclone dream
Living in the Philippines’s is a constant struggle to make ends meet, and it is a battle against mother nature, but it is where we are and we make the best of it. Because I cannot stand to see the local children going hungry a friend and I try to organise a group meal for the little ones at least once a week, we have managed to do very well lately with a little help from some foreign private aid. This all started after a Tropical Cyclone called Haiyan, (We called it Yolanda) devastated the area around Cebu.
Cyclones are a way of life in this area of the Philippines you have to do your best to be as prepared as you can, despite our modest way of living We try to keep our food stocks so they are adequate for an emergency, few perishables and a good supply of clean water. We are aware of the grab bag philosophy, but when you have little money. It is very difficult not to raid the grab bag rather than go shopping.
The authorities here give us good warning of any tropical storm that may be coming to our area, if they do, we pick any crops from our garden and preserve them as best we can, but we usually don't have much time to try to protect the house, we release the animals from their pens where they would drown in the case of flooding.
If we have to evacuate in a hurry. It is better to be prepared, as a precaution against your family being separated it is a good idea using an indelible pen to write the telephone number of a distant relative on everybody's forearm. Write a note for each member of the household giving as many details as you can, such as address and parents phone numbers together with any medical problems your family may have. We have learnt a lot from www.buzcall.com a very helpful warning site.
We knew it was coming, we did our best to prepare, it was not the first Cyclone that we had survived, it did threaten to be a very severe storm and I was very concerned about our house which was very flimsy with a tin roof, my wife was running round like a headless chicken doing lots of things but achieving nothing.
“Come here my love. Let me give you a cuddle. We have done everything we can. We just have to wait now and pray everything will be okay.”
“I know George, but I cannot help worrying about the children we won’t be able to look after all of them, if we get carried away in a flood what are we going to do”
“We are going to do the best we can, as we always have done.”
“You have listened to the weather forecasts and warnings, this is going to be a bad one.”
“Yes, Mary, but you flapping about and panicking is not going to make it any better, try to relax.”
“Have we done everything we can?”
“I cannot think of anything else, they all know the drill, I have given them all notes and marked up their arms.”
“Mum, can you get us a big meal? So at least we have full stomachs when the storm comes”
“That’s a good idea Norman, come on girls, let’s raid the pantry.”
So, we stuffed ourselves and listened to the radio weather forecasts which only seemed to get worse and worse, if their predictions were anything like correct, then we were in for a battering. We sat around the table and listened as the wind got stronger, debris was beginning to tear off some of the dwellings and clatter down the street.
I hurried to turn off the electricity when I noticed the water rising around the house, it came very quickly. The wind was causing a tidal surge which was inundating the town. I decided we had better make for higher ground so we left the house and joined the hundreds of others making their way towards the local temple.
The temple was situated about a mile away on a small hill, but we never made it, the water rose too quickly and we were soon struggling to keep our heads above water, we each grabbed one of the younger children and could do nothing as we watched Norman and Lisa get swept away amongst all the floating debris.
I let go of my wife’s hand as I was hit by a large piece of wood which almost caused me to lose consciousness, I would have dropped my three-year-old daughter Jane, but she had wisely clasped her hands around my neck to hang on. We were being battered by the debris in the swirling waters and I was sure that I had suffered a broken leg.
I noticed what looked like half of a garden shed roof coming along and as it passed. I tried to grab hold but the tarry waterproofing made it almost impossible, I managed to hoist Jane up onto the makeshift raft but try as I might I could not get my injured body up to join her, I was gathering my strength to try again when I was struck by a piece of furniture, I think it was a chest of drawers.
I had lost my grip on the slippery roof and I watched in dismay as it floated further away with my darling daughter crying and calling for her daddy, there was nothing I could do. I could not make my way through the floating debris I was struggling to stay alive, I saw many people watching from the surrounding buildings as I swept past, but they were as helpless as I was.
There were a good many people floating along in this sea of debris, most of them dead with just the occasional one or two struggling to stay alive like myself, the body of man floated by, he was lying face down in the water and I presumed he was dead, I grabbed at his body as he went by, not because I was trying to save him but he was wearing a lifebelt that I could do with, unfortunately the current was too strong and it ripped him from my grasp.
Finally, the force of the water flow slackened and then the direction of the current changed, I was going back the other way, I don't know how far I had gone inland but now the mass of water was returning to the sea carrying me helplessly with it, I managed to grab hold of some floating timber which I lay across with my legs in the water.
I must have passed out. I have no idea how long for but I awoke to find it was quite dark, I was still lying on my piece of timber, but most of the debris had spread out and I realised with dismay that I was out to sea and I could not see any lights on the shore.
The sea was choppy with the aftermath of the storm, there was no one to help me. I was hungry and thirsty and completely helpless, I looked carefully in all directions, but I could not see another person, not even a body I decided to look again in the morning and tried to go to sleep.
A long time later a passing helicopter reported my position, but it was not the sort that could land on the sea so could not attempt to rescue me, by the time the rescue boat found me a couple of days later it was not a rescue mission, but they did recover my body.
There was an official report issued later giving details of the typhoon Yolanda
The report did not mention my name, but then I was only one of thousands that perished.
Typhoon Haiyan, which was known locally as Yolanda hit the Easter Samar island at 8:40 PM GMT on 7 November 2013, it caused a storm surge 25 feet high in some areas, including the town of Tacloban, it had sustained winds of 147 mph and gusts of 171 mph. It was the deadliest Typhoon in the history of the Philippines, a country hit on average by more than 20 tropical storms a year and prone to both earthquakes and volcanoes.
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John, Thanks again. Jay