Sayings Saturday # 7: Blessings from a Storm (My Typhoon Odette Experience)

Merry Christmas Hiveians! Have you experienced storms in your life that left you devastated and made you ask, " Why me?". Well, our inspirational quote for this Saturday is about the struggles we face and how to deal with them. One of the recent storms that I have encountered was last week when my hometown was badly hit by Super Typhoon Odette. Literally, this storm has greatly affected millions from my hometown Cebu and other provinces that crossed its path.

The typhoon had its landfall in Cebu on the night of December 16. Around 6:00 p.m. it was raining and the wind was already blowing intensely. Our area was pitch dark due to power outage. Maybe the power lines got damaged or the electric company intentionally turned off the supply for safety purposes.

As the night progressed, so did the wind and rain. We are living in an elevated area so we are not worried of flood. What I got nervous about was a possible landslide. As the wind continued to blow, I could hear wobbling of metal sheets of our roof and the rustling of the trees.

As I went out of our house in the morning, it was my first time to witness such destruction that happened near our vicinity due to a typhoon. Some roads become unpassable caused by fallen trees, dangling wires, and leaning electrical posts. Some of our neighbor's roofs were also blown off. Thankfully everyone is safe in our neighborhood. Good thing that our house has no damages too. I think we were protected from the wind since our house is lower than the surrounding houses.

I was planning to go to work on December 17 afternoon. But I had trouble commuting since no buses or jeepneys available. Instead, I went back home and bought some necessities. It's 2 days after the typhoon that I was able to go to work. Our company was not exempted from getting damages. Parts of the roof and vents were dilapidated and some finished products got wet.

A week has passed and it has been a daily grind for everyone on finding and securing the basic necessities since there is water and power outage for the whole province. Queues are everywhere especially for groceries, food stores, water refilling and gasoline stations. People are also flocking to ATMs and remittance service shops to get cash since online services are offline.

With this crisis, there are still a lot to be grateful for. We are blessed to be safe and receive gifts from generous people. I am fortunate for the company that I am connected with, for providing me with more than enough resources for my family. I also got lucky that I have neighbors that help us in getting potable water.

In life, all of us have to overcome our own storms. It may be intense as a super typhoon but what's important is that we face it calmly and be open in accepting help. Let's not forget also to reach out to others who might need our help too.