Ferocious Winds

I woke up at around 4 am. It was when the wind was already blowing through our curtains. Soon I realized that electricity had already gone out; but there was still phone signal at that time. I've been experiencing typhoons since I was young; usually during these times, I just stay inside the house and sleep. But this one was kind of different; it was still to dark and you couldn't hear anything but the eerie howling of the wind. I also had this peculiar feeling; I was feeling very uneasy. I was alert and I wanted to keep track of everything that was happening on my surroundings. So I went outside to light our lamps and candles. And as I opened the door from the kitchen, I heard something broke. It was the vase. Luckily, I wasn't hit by it. I immediately collected and disposed the debris. It was by that time that I realized the possible danger the storm could bring. I thought that was the worst damage that could happen, but I was wrong. 

At around 5 am, my parents and my sister were already awake. The storm's strength hadn't changed; and we thought it was already the signal no. 4 that the news said. We were all calm, thinking it was just like the typical storm we regularly experience. As they were taking breakfast, I took videos of the scenery during the storm. We also listened to the radio to know the latest news but there was no significant news then. I checked my phone and realized that phone signal was already out also. I went inside the room and on the outside, I saw our banana trees toppling over our clothesline. 

By 7:30, everything was normal until we saw our neighbor's mango tree slowly being ripped apart by the wind. Some minutes later, what my father showed us really shocked me. Another mango tree, in front of our house was totally decapitated; its huge branches laid on the ground and almost covered the entire road. Thank God it didn't hit our roof! Now we learned that the wind's strength was gradually increasing. There was a very great danger of going outside. I stopped taking videos because I felt like it wasn't necessary anymore; there were more important things to do.

At around 8 am, some rainwater had already entered our house through our windows - which were closed. So we placed rags on the wet floor. But the water kept coming in and we ran out of rags already. This never happened before; during typhoons, there's always strong rainfall and wind but this time was really odd. You couldn't hear the rain hitting the ground; you could only hear the strong howling of the wind. Rain wasn't pouring downwards; all the rainwater was being brought by the wind and they came in sideways. It was like a pail of water being splashed at our windows. Never had we experienced much rainwater getting inside our house. We had to move the desktop computer far from the windows where the water entered. At this point, I was almost in panic; but I kept myself under control. I always kept in mind that I had to do whatever has to be done to possibly reduce the damages in our house. So I started eliminating the water by putting them into containers and discharging them outside. However, water was coming in really fast; I couldn't cope up with its rate. I already had several containers full of rainwater and yet there was still much more coming in. I felt very frustrated and helpless. Yet I had to accept that there was nothing I could do. I was no longer in control of the situation.

Half-past eight, the storm’s wrath was already at peak-level. The wind wasn't howling anymore; it was already screaming! It was screaming so loud at a very high pitch, a sharp sound that would hurt your ears. The pain is like when you are inside an airplane that is gaining altitude; it had something to do with change in pressure. The wind’s strength was unimaginable. Outside, you couldn't see anything; it was really zero visibility. We couldn't even see the houses of our neighbors because almost everything was covered with mist. On our backyard, we saw something very astounding: our mountain bike was flying in a rotational manner and the tables outside were being flipped over. It was like there was a small tornado on our backyard.   

Around 9 am, the most dreadful thing happened. Our ceiling and our roof were already being raised by the wind. I never thought that this was possible. So this was signal no.4 then; the strength of the wind could blow our roof away, and even shaken the concrete walls of our house. All of us were taken aghast. Never have we expected that the storm's [pwer could reach this intensity; the winds were really raging. We were not prepared for this; it was like watching the world end in front of your eyes. But seeing the situation, my dad made a sudden and crucial decision - to open our main door. He rushed to the door and opened it. This allowed the wind to pass through our house. With the door left open, our ceiling and roof were kept intact. However, our beds and some of our things were soaked with rainwater.

Fear wasn’t the feeling that dominated me; I was more of agitated. I wanted it to stop already; but it didn’t. I felt so helpless seeing so much damages happening as time went by. In the midst of disaster, it took time for me to realize the gravity of the situation. It didn’t sink into me that this situation could bring a great impact on our lives. I was in the middle of danger itself. Even inside our own home, we were all vulnerable to danger. Every decision I would make would create a consequence. Then, I realized that the most important thing that time was our own safety and our lives; not our things inside the house. We needed to be safe, and so we gathered inside the masters’ bedroom and prayed. With the storm’s monstrosity, we lifted everything up to God, for we knew we were helpless. We prayed for our safety and for all those who were battling the storm.

Around half-past 9, we were still there; waiting for the storm to pass. It was like a never-ending agony; the winds were still raging. But inside me, there was a piece of hope. I knew that soon it will all be over; and we just had to be patient and careful. I then realized that I haven’t taken breakfast yet. With everything that had happened, that was already off my mind. Good thing I remembered. The truth was: I was just discharged from the hospital two days before because of food-poisoning; and there was a medicine I had to take three times a day until Sunday. I had to take that medicine every after meal. To be honest, I didn’t want to take the medicine any longer, but they urged me to. So my dad went outside and took biscuits and the medicine. The condition outside was still the same. However, the direction of the wind had changed; it was now blowing towards the opposite direction. After taking breakfast and my medicine, we stayed inside the room and talked. Water was entering through the windows but we didn’t mind it anymore. We were thankful that we still had our roof over our heads; otherwise it would be much worse.

By 11, the storm was almost subsiding. We could now see our surroundings well, yet there was still moderate wind. The view and the landscape outside totally changed. From our house, we could now see Isabel Bay and the opposite end of it. We saw boats which were already very near the coastline; several were not in balance, and one was totally capsized. What a massive disaster it was. On our immediate surroundings also, you could see really great damages. Different sorts of things were scattered everywhere.

It was by noon when the storm had totally subsided and the sky gradually turned back to normal.