When Typhoon Odette was about to hit Cebu, most Cebuanos already knew that it will be a strong one, but no one anticipated the extent of havoc that it will bring. For most parts of the island, electricity was out for a month and even longer. The scarcity of potable water, food, and other essentials brought something that the Cebuanos have only seen during wartime. To an island as vibrant and as festive as Cebu, Odette was a test of the Cebuano spirit and how we are able to triumph even in the worst of our days.
In my family’s case, we actually came prepared. I have stocked water, food, and other essentials that I know would bare for at least a month. But still, the storm did so much in the surrounding area of our home, and we even almost got hit by a water tank that was flown from one of the buildings near our house. Thankfully, the tank went in the other direction and our house was spared.
In the afternoon of December 16, 2021, Odette was already ravaging hard. A few moments later, the electricity is out and all we could hear is this roaring sound from the strong winds brought by the storm and the symphony of the debris hitting each other. This continued up until late evening and it was becoming evident that Odette would be leaving our vibrant island a scar like no other.
I am not sure if I was able to really sleep that night. The next day, when light broke the blanket of darkness brought by the lack of electricity, I and my cousins decided to survey the surrounding area and what we saw was heart-quenching – it was a scene like no other. We heard a lot of stories of people being trapped in their homes during the onslaught of the typhoon. There was this ever-rising casualty count. There was this news of a small island community off the coast of Mactan being wiped out completely – thankfully, a preemptive evacuation was made so casualties had been minimized.
We thought that that was the end of Odette's wrath, but we were wrong. With the extent of the damage she brought, Odette took away the festive spirit of our holiday season and made the first quarter of 2022 a struggle for most Cebuanos. The price of gasoline doubled and even tripled in some areas. A 5-gallon distilled water container which originally cost between 15 to 25 pesos is now being sold for 100 to 200 pesos. Food and other commodities prices have significantly increased as well. Most banks and ATMs are not operational, so a lot of individuals were out of cash. To a still pandemic-stricken island, it was like adding insult to injury.
But Odette did not just bring bad things, it also brought out the best in Cebuanos. We witnessed the spirit of Bayanihan - restaurants offering free hot meals to locals, kind-spirited people bringing water supply from the north to the metro, and companies opening their doors for people to charge their devices. And while not as festive as it was before, we celebrated the holiday season still with smiles on our faces.
It has been a year since Odette, and still, some of us are healing from the wounds left by her wrath. As I look at the days that came by, I can say that it was not an easy year.
Consequently, Odette was just another reminder about the feebleness of our lives. It was a clear message from Mother Nature that when she takes vengeance, it’s gonna be hard for man to handle.
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