Super typhoon Yolanda survivors (international name Haiyan) recently commemorated the 9th year anniversary of the strongest storm ever recorded, according to weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
Typhoon Yolanda made landfall early morning of November 8, 2013 in Guiuan, Eastern Samar with estimated winds of 305 kilometers per hour, affecting nearby towns. A storm surge hit a high 13 to 20 feet in Tacloban City which swiped off thousands of trees, piled up cars, and destroyed buildings and businesses. Ships and air ports were also damaged, and dead bodies in mud littered everywhere. In a final report by National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the total listed death toll was more than 6,300 persons with 1,062 bodies missing.
In Southern Leyte, classes were suspended in both public and private institutions during the bright sunny afternoon of November 7, 2013. Strong winds and heavy rainfall were felt during the evening till early dawn, and the electricity went off, which lasted for one month.
On the morning of November 9, military trucks, medical transport vehicles, humanitarian organizations, medical rescuers and individual volunteers flocked on the national highway.
One medical staff who joined the advance volunteers said upon returning home that it was like a “horror zone,” describing that bodies hanged on trees and crashed on the streets. People who went there to help said that they could smell death from far away.
Close families of the survivors, flocked in supermarkets and convenient stores to buy food, water and basic necessities in nearby towns. In Maasin City, some stores were reportedly hoarded and ran out-of-supply.
“We managed to evacuate on high lands before the landfall, but my brother and his family did not make it, they were all wiped out by the storm surge,” one survivor recalled. “That building Ma’am (he pointed on the two-storey building), water reached on the second floor, some houses could not be seen,” a tricycle driver said in grief during our small talk.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the commemoration of the 9th year anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda, last November 8, 2022.
Typhoon Haiyan also affected other Southeast Asian countries, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Palau, Micronesia and South China. (RCabodbod)
Survivors remember the strongest storm Yolanda
