Story Time: Super Typhoon “Odette”

Part 1, Weathering the Storm

January 29, 2023 Vol. I, Issue 5

On December 16^th, 2022 the Philippine Islands were hit by a Super Typhoon. 

I live on one of those islands…Bohol.

The world called the storm “Rai” but here she was known as “Odette.” It was the second costliest typhoon in Philippine history; second only to Typhoon “Haiyan” (“Yolanda”) which devastated the Philippines in 2013.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Rai)  “Odette” cost the country over one billion USD in damages. 

Houses were lost

Infrastructure was damaged

Many were injured

People died

I live just outside the provincial capital city.  Things weren’t great, but I’m lucky enough to live in a block and concrete house high above the sea.  I wasn’t affected by the storm surge.  The oldest coral stone church in the world blocks not only my view of the water but also much of the winds.

The rains started in the morning.  It was pretty constant and wasn’t too bad through most of the day.  Late afternoon is when things started to get a bit dicey.  The winds picked up as did the intensity if the rain.  My roof had a few leaks so my floors were wet.  No big deal. We moved any sensitive items to protected areas in the house.

About 3PM we lost electricity. 

Honestly, I’m surprised we had it that long. 

I had kept my phone on the charger all day so it would be at 100% when the power went out.  I’m also a member of the amateur HAM radio league.  We as a club have been saying for years that when “the big one” hits, we’ll be the only form of communication on the island. 

More about that later. 

Let’s back up for a second…In the days before “Odette” made landfall, people were frantically buying food and other supplies in preparation for the disaster.  At my house, we looked at each other and asked, “Is there anything we need?”  The answer was, “No, not really.”  I had bought a few oil lamps months earlier and a few gallons of kerosene.  The cabinets were fully stocked as was the refrigerator and freezer.  I have hand tools, plenty of food and water, and more camping and survival equipment than anyone really needs.

The plan was to bug-in not bug-out.  Therefore, I wasn’t ready to leave on a moment’s notice, but my circumstances were such that I wouldn’t need to.  If we had to evacuate I probably would have just walked up to my fellow expat’s house a few meters above mine.

Anyway, where were we?  Oh yeah…

The lights went out at 3PM but the cell towers were still working as was the HAM radio repeater.  I was getting updates on my phone through various group chat rooms.  I’d turn on my handheld radio every so often but the chatter was in the local dialect which I don’t understand.  By 6PM we had gone to Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) Five which is the highest level for typhoon winds.  These are winds 185 km/h or greater expected within 12 hours (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)).  I should mention here that throughout most of the day we had been at Signal Three (winds 89–117 km/h are prevailing or expected to occur within 18 hours).  This would prove disastrous to many families by the end of the night.

Now it was dark

The rain was torrential

The wind was fierce.

At home we rode out the storm.  Emptied the buckets under the leaks periodically.  Monitored the trees and powerlines outside.  Had dinner.  Most everyone here cooks with LPG.  Chatted to others to see how they fared.

The best laid plans…

Here in the Philippines we have a system in place for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).  The levels go from national to local as follows:

• National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)
• Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC)
• Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC)
• Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee (BDRRMC)

These bodies are responsible for the “Disaster Plans” and run the Operations Centers during a natural hazard event. 

Well, the last message in my group chat from the radio league was at 10:30PM and went something like,

A tree has fallen on the PDRRMC HQ.  Our batteries are dying.  May God bless us and protect us all.  Out.

Wow…just…wow.

We were going to be on our own for a while.

Somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30PM the rain all but stopped but the wind actually picked up.  My roof as well as the one on the next house were in quite a heated conversation.  Most of the rooves here are corrugated sheet metal…and they were getting noisy.

It was at this point that I started to get concerned.  I can deal with leaks, but I didn’t want to lose my roof.  There’s not much I could do at this point so I went to bed.  Tomorrow is another day.

We woke on the morning of December 17^th to blue skies.  You could almost audibly hear the opening to Beethoven’s 6^th playing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musopen) as people rubbed their eyes and surveyed the aftermath of the typhoon.  My house is in the middle of my block.  A large tree from the churchyard directly across the street had snapped and was in the road.  Large trees had fallen at both ends of the block as well.  No vehicles would be able to pass for a while.  The Parisian revolutionaries in Le Miserable would have been so lucky to have barricades like this!  The roof to my outdoor laundry area had flown off and was wedged up against my neighbor’s house.  It took some muscle, but my son and I were able to dislodge it and get it back into our yard.

*Edit: My daughter just remined me that she and my son moved the roof back to our yard and I supervised. She’s a champion weight lifter and wants the clout.

Remember the church in front of my house?  The oldest coral stone church in existence?  Well, huge sections of the roof were peeled back like a sardine can exposing the rafters inside.  The roof to the adjoining high school was all but gone.  Debris of all manner lay in yards, roads, everywhere.

There was no cell phone reception, or land line, for that matter.  Most everything was closed except for a few small stores.  They’re called “Sari-Sari” stores, meaning “A little of everything.”  Most, if not all, refilling stations where we get our drinking water were closed as well. 

Welcome to the suck!

Prior to the storm I made sure we had eight full five gallon jugs of drinking water.  I estimate that 75% of the refilling stations were closed in the first two weeks post-typhoon.  Not everyone was so lucky.  I also have a 50,000 liter rainwater tank under my house…and people knew it!  Two days after the storm I had a line of people with water jugs outside my gate.  They were lined up because the municipal water pumping station had sustained damage.  The taps were dry.  This was true most everywhere.  I was afraid I was going to have a riot on my hands and would be forced to either share my supply or defend it.  I allowed one freebie.

They got the hint

They didn’t come back

The people were not ready for a disaster of this magnitude…neither was the government.

Bohol lies in a part of the Philippine archipelago that’s pretty well protected from typhoons.  We have the island of Cebu to our northwest, Leyte to the northeast, and Mindanao to the south.  We’re nestled quite comfortably in the center of a triangle that bears the brunt of most weather systems that blow through…but nothing would stop our girl, “Odette!”

This happened right in the middle of a pandemic

Relief would be tricky

Recovery will take time…

Let’s stop here and call this “Part 1.”  I hope you have a good picture of what happened.  Bear in mind, this was just the first 48 hours.  A lot took place over the ensuing weeks and months.

I had a small part in the relief and recovery phases.  I want to share some of that story and the lessons learned.

Join me on the next 5^th Sunday, which is in April, for Part 2 of our Super-typhoon “Odette” adventure.

See you around the campfire!