Bagio Pablo

Let me say in advance, that with being in the Bukid and having hardly any contact with the outside world, I was clueless as to the seriousness of the Bagio until after it had already happened... Below are my journaled views of what happened...

Saturday, we were alerted to the fact that there was a typhoon, hurricane or 'Bagio' (locally known as 'Pablo' but internationally known as 'Bopha') headed towards the Philippines, due to maybe start hitting Sunday or Monday..however, though we acknowledged it, we continued on our merry route.

We had already planned (regardless), that I would stay with Jemil at the boarding house in Poblacion (also called Las Nieves) until Wednesday while Bong was in Butuan giving lectures. Then he would pick us up to go to Subait, where I would do a repeat of last week--staying at Pastor Ernesto's until Friday, at which I would transfer to Angel's home, and then transfer from there to Ate´Elaina's home, before going to church on Sunday, where we would have a Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration after the service, and repeating the same in EG Montilla that night.

Monday night, for the first time in almost a week, I was able to contact my family and update them on my whereabouts, and let them know about the Bagio (since I knew they would find out one way or another ;p), and share my plans for the rest of the week. That was kinda fun, even though it was just through my Kindle, so it was email only..slow, tedious, and my first 5 page draft got deleted somehow just as I was about to push send... :/

Sunday evening, it was a little stormy and rainy, but Monday morning, it started getting a lot harder, and Monday afternoon, we had Class 3 warnings (101-185 kph or 63-115 mph winds) and all government employees and school kids were dismissed to go home and prepare. Soon after that, it was "brownout" (where the electricity--which is a rare commodity out here in the Bukid--went out) and by that evening, we started to get high winds.

The cause of our lack of electricity...at least 7 poles were down across our path on the inlet, and everywhere this side of Butuan (1+ hour away) was brownout.

In my sheltered, concrete boarding room, I honestly thought it wasn't "all that bad"...comparing it to Davao's torrential rains and North Idaho's high winds...but though some rain is normal here, wind is not, and can have devastating results on jungle homes. Meanwhile in Surigao, where Jemil's family lives, everyone was being evacuated, and my friend working on the ships off of Siargao Island said they were holding their own, though it was starting to get nasty.

It stormed and rained throughout the night, and some into the morning, but with the brownout, we had no way of communication to Wednesday that we learned the extreme damage it had wrought.

Wednesday afternoon, we relocated back to the rural village of Subait (about 5+ miles deeper in), and because Las Nieves being relatively sheltered, I was shocked by the destruction that had been wrought by the high winds (even less than a mile away from our boarding house!).

Some of the most damage we saw was caused by what I call the 'Asian Paper Trees'... They are the classic tree I think of when I think of Asia..though I believe they were actually imported for the paper production. They have a shallow and narrow root system, and so with high winds, collapse like match sticks.. (which actually brought in a lot of income for the loggers).

Fallen 'paper' trees by the side of the road

While driving, we drove under quite a few fallen electrical lines and trees...some of which were so low and obstructing the road that we had to walk a ways to get around it before getting back on the motorcycle.

The paper trees here were fallen under the road

Fence damage

Lumber already cut sizably and hauled to the road for the loggers 

We checked on a lot of church members on our way to Pastor Ernesto's home and also checked on the church...unfortunately, the high winds wrecked havoc on the freshly laid roof..and so we will have to wait for more money to buy more roofing materials before finishing it up...

Notice the downed palm tree in front.

A closer look at the roof damage

Another view...unfortunately, all of the roofing, from the top down will have to be removed, and much of it will be un-reusable.

We walked to Pastor Ernesto's home from there, and the mud was thick..however, when we got close, we had to take a detour, because of so many downed trees. Praise God, his home was untouched, as were all of the other homes I saw on our drive over (not including some old unlived-in shacks)

The tree may look small from the picture, but it was a lot bigger in real life..there are a few other trees down behind it too. (Pastor Ernesto, his boys and some friends are cutting them up to be hauled off too)

Though Pastor's house was alright, the roof did have some damage. They reported that their home shook a lot during the high winds, and that it was the worst storm they remember ever happening--as usually when there is a typhoon, they just get heavy rains, not much wind. Other villagers around the Las Nieves Muncipality said the same.

They will have to replace their roof as well.

You can see the downed trees on the left, very close to the house, which is obstructed on poles.

View from the porch...

 These pictures were taken a few days (Sunday) later on our way to Las Nieves:

All of the ponds are still majorly flooded, though it has abated a lot from Wednesday.

Clothes hanging out to dry...these people are brilliant..some even used fallen trees to hang their many clothes to dry on..

Mais (corn) crops outside Las Nieves, that were green and flourishing only days before (it is harvesting time right now)  were decimated, and waters were high.

Flooded rice fields have abated some, but still have too much.

Another view of the dead cornfields

A glimpse of the beautiful Asian Paper Trees which drop like matchsticks under high winds.

The next week, Bong, Jemil & I headed to Davao City for Christmas Break, and were all dumbfounded by the absolute destruction we saw as we passed through the region before Tagum (mostly from Monkayo to Nabunturan). We took hundreds of pictures and lots of videos, but unidentifiably, somehow my 16gb card corrupted..I had some pictures on my other card, but it was a great loss..

Bagio Pablo struck Mindanao shortly before 4:45am, with winds of 175 kph (110 mph) winds over Baganga city, and millions of people--many of whom lived in remote and unprepared communities--were in the storm's path. The tightly packed storm brought devastating flash floods, landslides, and high winds, which blasted homes into sticks, uproot trees, and cut power for days.

According to a recent 16-page international study (done by AON), Super Typhoon Pablo (internationally coded as "Bopha") was dubbed the world's deadliest disaster in 2012, with no other calamity surpassing Pablo's wrath.

Hurricane Sandy was considered the world's most destructive catastrophe in 2012 (in terms of the extent and cost of damage), hitting the our East Coast, Bahamas, and Canada, with the estimated cost of damage being $62 billion (whereas Pablo "only" damaged $802 million worth of infrastructures and private properties..which, considering how comparatively inexpensive it is to build a home there is, that is quite substantial). However, it only left 254 people dead in all areas combined, whereas Bagio Pablo left over 1,900 people either dead or missing and injured over 2,650 people.

Bagio Pablo damaged or destroyed more than 216,800 homes in 318 muncipalities, 34 provinces, with the hardest-hit areas being in Davao Oriental and Compestela Valley in the Davao Region. Pablo was one of the deadliest disasters to hit Mindanao over the last century, and also is one of the only Typhoons to affect the entire country of the Philippines from the top to the bottom. According to the locals (inner island as well), this was the hardest Typhoon to hit that any of them remember, making landfall in Davao Oriental as a 260 kph (160 mph) Category 5 typhoon.

The Philippines Banana Growers & Exporters Association reported that 25% of the Philippine's banana crop was destroyed and that $122 million would be needed for farm rehabilitation. Pablo also caused severe damage to the eastern coasts of the tiny island nation of Palau (located 600 miles east of Mindanao), with an estimated damage of $20 million.

Interestingly, AON also reported incidents of earthquakes in Iran, Japan, and China, and heavy damage caused by torrential rainfall were also reported in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Baghdad, and the Philippines in December 2012.

Unfortunately, the crisis brought food, water, housing, and medical shortages to 5 million+ people, and reports of cholera started coming in with infected water. Food/relief efforts were established, but slowly (considering the need), and victims started getting angry, which thankfully was mostly managed by the military who came in and helped enforce safety and tried to deter pillaging rampages.

Mercy Maternity Clinic, as well other organizations sent in multiple medical relief teams (of which I was hoping to be part of, before God redirected my steps), to the Davao Oriental area, specifically Cateel and Baganga areas. One of my Mercy friends created the following slideshow of their Relief Team's work there. Almost all of the white people (and many of the Filipino workers) you'll see on this video are good friends or coworkers of mine at MMC... ;)

On a last note, it was an interesting comparison to see the aftermath of the 2011 Typhoon Washi in Cagayan de Oro, which killed more than 1,200 people, and then see the aftermath of this typhoon, which killed even more... Amazing what flash floods and high winds can do!! We serve an Awesome God, and though this was a fearful and powerful catastrophe, it as so neat to see people, both Filipinos and other countries rally to lend support.

It will take years for life to get normal in that corner, just as it has for those devastated by typhoons or other catastrophes in the world, but as they get more volatile and closer together, I can't help but recall Mark 13 (7-8):

And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.