Month: November 2013

The nation and the world were beginning to realize that enormity of the damage wrought by ‘Super” Typhoon Yolanda. The primary focus was on Tacloban City, where the media converged. ABS-CBN’s Korina Sanchez and CNN’s Anderson Cooper covered the Tacloban disaster (and for comic relief amid the devastation, had a row about a seemingly childish issue given the crisis at hand).

International aid was starting to pour in. The generosity of people from across the globe is so heartwarming and admirable. But, like any major catastrophe, the logistical challenge of distributing aid is simply enormous. Coupled with local political turf wars and unscrupulous scoundrels, the task of getting the right help to the right people is a very daunting task.

One of the hardest hit areas in the province of Capiz was Olotayan, a small island north of Panay Island.

The destruction in Olotayan was chronicled in the Philippine Inquirer:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/527977/another-typhoon-victim-little-boracay

The Typhoon’s Aftermath in Olotayan

Olotayan Relief

Because of the widespread destruction wrought by Typhoon Yolanda, we knew that there would not be sufficient and timely help coming.  As with any major catastrophe, the amount and timeliness of aid have always been a challenge.

So, starting with Victoria (Vicki) Altavas-Arcega, the family started a private drive for aid, focused on Roxas City and particularly the barangays of Baybay and Culasi.  So, a call for aid was sent by Vicki to friends and classmates:

Aid was coming alright but perhaps not enough or not to the people who needed it most.

Victoria Altavas-Arcega of Baybay, Roxas City wrote:

Just came from the cousins next door and this is what we talked about…

After assessing the damage to our home and our relatives’ homes in Baybay, Roxas City, we turned our attention to the homes of our loved ones in the surrounding towns and barangays.

In the town of Ivisan, 15 kilometers away from Roxas City, there were reports that only 20 – 30% of the homes were left unscathed. Roofs were blown off and homes were damaged as evidenced by the photos taken of homes of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

The roads to Iloilo and Aklan were impassable – either flooded or blocked by debris.

After Typhoon Yolanda hit Roxas City on November 8, 2013, all communication was down.  Electricity was down, telephone service was down — both land line and cellular, Internet consequently was unavailable.  Our first thoughts, in Manila and even in the United States, were — was everyone OK? how much damage was done? Because of the blackout of information, no one knew the extend of the damage in our homes.  We were starting to hear about Tacloban — the devastation and the agonizing wait for aid and relief because of the utter enormity of the damage wrought by the super typhoon.

Super typhoon Yolanda hit the Province of Capiz and Roxas City in the afternoon of November 8, 2013, after earlier hitting land in Tacloban City and cutting a swath of destruction in that city.

Here is a map of the path of the super typhoon):

If you look closely at the map, Super typhoon Yolanda made its way through Panay (particularly by Cuartero, Capiz) and left a trail of destruction in Capiz.

Here is the best real-time (as it happened) description of the path of the super typhoon that I found in the Internet:

http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/11/08/as-it-happened-typhoon-haiyan-makes-landfall/