In the years to
come, Filipinos old enough to remember the events would look back to 2013 and
still remember the catastrophes that occurred that year. In the last quarter of
the year, so near the Christmas season, two extremely devastating events would
occur one after another: first was the earthquake that had a magnitude of 7.2 and
the other was the typhoon that was considered to be one of the strongest tropical
cyclones ever recorded.
Eid al-Adha fell on October 15 in 2013. Schools were closed and some employees did not have work, which was fortuitous because the aftermath would have been more horrible and devastating otherwise.
The day started like any ordinary day and all was well until the clock struck 8:12 in the morning and very strong tremors were felt. The earth movement lasted for about 34 seconds. In the aftermath, people were left feeling confused and terrified, especially in the wake of the aftershocks that continued to plague the affected areas for days afterwards.
The earthquake’s epicenter was in Bohol, but intensity 6 and 7 were felt as far as Cebu and Negros. Bohol was the most affected; many of its churches that used to attract local and foreign tourists were reduced to rubble and some bridges and roads were rendered impassable.
In Cebu, the bell tower of Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, the oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, collapsed.
The weather bureau had been tracking the bad
weather days before it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility and had
been giving constant and regular updates and warnings. People were advised to
prepare as Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) was already categorized as a Category 5 super typhoon even before it
entered the PAR. But nobody was actually ever prepared for what would actually take
place or how much devastation it would wreak.
They’re still there, of course, hanging tough
and never losing hope.
Eid al-Adha fell on October 15 in 2013. Schools were closed and some employees did not have work, which was fortuitous because the aftermath would have been more horrible and devastating otherwise.
The day started like any ordinary day and all was well until the clock struck 8:12 in the morning and very strong tremors were felt. The earth movement lasted for about 34 seconds. In the aftermath, people were left feeling confused and terrified, especially in the wake of the aftershocks that continued to plague the affected areas for days afterwards.
Intensity map of the earthquake.
The earthquake’s epicenter was in Bohol, but intensity 6 and 7 were felt as far as Cebu and Negros. Bohol was the most affected; many of its churches that used to attract local and foreign tourists were reduced to rubble and some bridges and roads were rendered impassable.
Ruined Tubigon town hall.
The Church of Our Lady of Light in Loon after the earthquake.
In Cebu, the bell tower of Basilica Minore del Santo Niño, the oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, collapsed.
Ruined
bell tower of the Santo Niño Church.
Unfortunately, Filipinos
would not yet be given time to recover as less than a month later, on November
7, a very strong typhoon would hit the country—this time again, the Visayas area would be the most affected.
Typhoon Yolanda on November 7, 2013.
Yolanda
did not stay too long in one place and was out of the PAR within the weekend, but
the damages it left behind was overwhelming in its magnitude. Many lives were
lost and entire towns were almost wiped out. Even more people were left feeling
confused and helpless. Not only did they lose their homes and means of
livelihood, they also lost loved ones. Add to that, they did not have any food and potable water left and had to rely on donations and relief aids for survival.
Tacloban City, a week after Yolanda.
The
aftermath of Yolanda was so great that many local and international organizations gave
donations and aids to help the victims and survivors. People from all walks of
life donated money and volunteered their time and services to the different
relief drives started all over the country.
Despite
the tragedies, smiles never left the faces of many Filipinos.
A year later, many
people still haven’t completely recovered from the devastation of the last year;
many are still picking up the pieces of their lives left shattered by the loss
of loved ones or of the property that they worked so hard for. But somehow,
the tragedies of 2013 did not conquer the indomitable spirit of the Filipinos. If
nothing else, our resilience and ability to smile in the face of adversities have
once again seen us through. Slowly and bit by bit, with help from local and
foreign groups and individuals, the survivors dusted themselves off and moved on with
their lives.
Where are they
now?
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