Ursula's wrath
During Christmas Eve it howled, blowing away houses and toppling down trees. It was typhoon Ursula, just in time for Christmas when it hit the Visayan islands. While the track may have changed a few hours earlier and not directly hitting north of Cebu, severe damage was suffered by the municipalities.
During one of my visits there this week, I saw banana trees lined up on the ground and cornfields turned into swamps. But my heart broke when I met a 74-year-old grandmother who cried because she was not able to finish her noche buena that night. In the middle of merrymaking with her niece and grandchildren, the strong wind blew her roof away and soiled all her belongings inside the house. She has nothing left but a wet floor, and a few things she could pick up. But her house? Totally a wreck. She asked if she could be given any form of assistance. I hugged her and gave her canned goods, noodles, and a pack of biscuits; it was all I had in my bag.
But stories like these we hear on a yearly basis, whenever a typhoon passes by Cebu. It's not that we have not learned how to prepare - because the efforts of the government agencies in making sure they are ready to respond is superb. The problem is in the mindset of the residents and their stubbornness to follow. I have seen disaster responders give up asking the residents to evacuate before the onslaught of a typhoon because it was already too dangerous for them. There are people who don't want to leave their house, and risk their lives for material possessions.
I think this must be put to a stop. We must learn that everything is not all material. While it is true that we need to build resilient houses against winds, flood, and quakes, we must also learn how to value life. It is not bad to spend a night in an evacuation center, even on Christmas Eve, especially if it’s for our own safety. It’s not wrong to have a different kind of Christmas as long as the family is complete. But then again, what's done is done and we cannot undo what has happened.
But maybe Ursula's wrath is a lesson we must learn. That for one, we must always adhere with what our local government units say during typhoons. When it's time to go and leave the house for a safe place, just go. When they say you may stay but take caution, then don't lose your guard. Second, we must also build houses that are strong enough. Light materials may be cheap but building cheap is also like building on death. Don't court death because you wanted to save up. Follow standards in building houses and other infrastructure.
Northern Cebu and the rest of the Visayan provinces will need our help rebuilding again, then let us extend our hand.
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