The Scary Experience from the Super Typhoon Odette

It has been three weeks now, and still, we have no electricity, wifi, or mobile signal in our area. We lost our roof, and partially damaged our house. But I want to share with you that scary experience we've had through this post. Hope you can read this blog until the end. It means a lot to me, thank you so much.

December 2021, the last month of the year, the supposed to be a month of happiness, excitement, and celebration of Christmas and New Year. But the victims of the super typhoon had a scary experience.

I remember, it was Thursday, the day of the super typhoon’s landfall but most of the people around me were not worried at all. They were feeling complacent because it might be just another Typhoon Yolanda experience that didn’t do much damage in our city – Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

Yes, people were not panicking so was I. A lot of us thought that it will be heavy rain but that day, there was no rain at all. There was a peaceful morning until noon. Late afternoon, the rain started to fall but it was moderate, almost no thunder roaring in the skies. Believe me, it was like an ordinary day so people were busy doing their own thing. But that ordinary day actually turned into a nightmare for a lot of us.

Our house is a hundred meters away from the sea but we were still advised to evacuate. Since our house is beside the Naval Forces Gate, we had the chance to evacuate in the Navy gym just like what happened during typhoon Yolanda. However, I had work to finish that day and the Navy only allowed people to evacuate until 6 pm. So, my brother stayed with me in the house. It was only the two of us who didn’t evacuate while my parents were already inside the gym. My sister was not at home, but she was in a safe place.

Still, there was no heavy rain. It was just like normal rain but around 7 pm, the electricity was cut off. It was a total blackout in the city. We have a two-storey house, but only the first floor is made of concrete. The second floor is made of wood.

Since no more electricity, my brother and I just sat on the chair in our small living room waiting for the typhoon to come. Again, there was a continuous moderate rain only, not the heavy one you expected from a typhoon.

Around 8 in the evening, the mobile signal was shut down so we couldn’t contact our parents who evacuated. We were left with no communication. And then suddenly, a strong wind came. My mind concluded that the typhoon has landed already. Our city is under the typhoon’s eye by the way so we were not sure of its damage.

I was busy scrolling through my phone’s gallery that night while listening to the wind slapping the area. Until I was stopped upon hearing a loud thunder, and a very strong wind hitting our house. The wind has a roaring sound, a scary sound that gave me shivers that night. I was like, “What the hell is this typhoon?” I thought we will experience heavy rain but it was different. It was heavy and strong winds smashing the houses, trees, electric posts, buildings, mobile towers, and other properties outside.

I was no longer a bit relaxed. Instead, I felt scared. I was afraid that our house would break any moment and be carried by the wind. Heck, we were on the first floor but our second floor could fall. We then heard loud noises and that was when the roofs got pulled off from the houses and carried by the wind. We saw from the window a roof with some wood attached to it fell so as other roof flying around. Damn, it was so dark outside yet I had a glimpse of roofs scattering around. Then, a loud bang again was heard. We then knew trees fell down, and the biggest tree in our area also fell.

I was very nervous and scared. The normal day we thought turned into a literal nightmare. It was the first time I’d witnessed such strong wind in a typhoon. I couldn’t sleep, heck who could sleep in that situation?

It was still raining but I was scared more when my brother and I started to get wet from the waters dripping down from our second floor. That’s when I realized that the roof outside was ours. We got no roof that’s why the rainwater was able to get inside the house and drench me and my brother.

My pets, a cat and a dog got scared too and sat beside me. Our floor got soaked with dirt and water from the second level. I was praying hard that this catastrophe will end soon but it didn’t. We were just there on the first floor, sitting while waiting for the typhoon to end. Finally, after three hours, we no longer hear the roaring sound outside. The win has calmed down. I breathed so hard, prayed, and thanked God that we were still alive after that horrible and monstrous wind hit us.

Being in the typhoon’s eye definitely brought so much damage to our place. It was my first experience and praying to never experience it again.

December was supposed to be a month where families gather together and look forward to ending the year full of happiness. Unfortunately, Super Typhoon Odette was heartless to take away such happiness. But I am still grateful for our safety. My family, friends, and neighbors were safe.

It has been three weeks since the calamity, and until now, my area has had no electricity, WiFi, or mobile signal. It was difficult but we were slowly adapting. The first few days of the aftermath were like hunger games but now things are getting better. Hopefully, we’ll soon have electricity and signal back in my district. My work online has been stopped and only get the chance to post this blog. I am sharing with you this experience, and I miss writing in Hive too.

I hope to share more stories from this typhoon, and next time the aftermath. Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. Hope all is well with you and may this 2022 be a better year for us.

_{Hi! Welcome to Raine's safe haven in Hive. She is an Industrial Engineer turned Freelancer. She is currently a Brand Designer and Social Media Manager. Follow her Hive journey as she writes about various topics such as freelancing, play-to-earn games, life, and some inspiring stories. She loves to interact with new people so she's looking forward to getting to connect with you.}

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