Typhoon Agnes November 3rd 1984
My family and our Yayas were all sitting in the living room of the residence we rented from the missionary Jim Curtis when the storm hit. Fortunately, due to ‘brown outs’ (Filipino for black out) we had purchased plenty of candles. The house windows were the old style glass slat (louvered) that opened with a lever. The wind from the typhoon was so strong the slats seemed to flex or curve and the rain blew into the house. We had a few coconut trees surrounding the house and the winds blew the coconuts into the roof and it sounded like canon balls hitting the metal roofing. A week later I hired a man who knew hot to cut the top of the coconut tree so that it would cease to produce fruit. We were relatively safe inside out concrete domicile. Outside the development other folks, living in traditional Nipa homes suffered both loss of shelter and life.
United Nations Disaster Reflief Organization final report.
PHILIPPINES - TYPHOON UNDANG (AGNES)
UNDRO INFO REPORT NO. 6
21 DECEMBER 1984
SITUATION
1. FINAL REPORT OF CASUALTIES AND DAMAGE FROM TYPHOON UNDANG FROM UNDRO/UNDP RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE AS RECEIVED FROM NATIONAL AUTHORITIES:
862 DEAD, 197 INJURED AND 217 MISSING.
1,495,738 PERSONS (293,998 FAMILIES) AFFECTED.
765,965 PERSONS (126,996 FAMILIES) RENDERED HOMELESS.
176,272 HOUSES TOTALLY DESTROYED, 115,296 PARTIALLY.
TOTAL DAMAGE PROPERTY, CROPS, LIVESTOCK, ROADS AND BRIDGE PESOS
1,929.5 MILLION (APPROX US DLRS 96.6 MILLION).
James made his way over to my house, he lived a few blocks away. We managed to drive into the city in the school’s green van (maneuvering around the downed electrical poles and lines that filled the roads). We would be without electricity for nearly three months. I purchased a Coleman type gas lantern fuled by propane that set atop a pole attached to the lantern making the lantern nearly six feet off the ground.
In our area alone tens of thousands of people were homeless. At Zion Bible College the only building left standing was the chapel where the faculty and students sought shelter from the storm. When we made it out to Zion we tried to use ropes to stand the housed that had simply blown over back on their posts. The houses were simply to heavy for us to pull up with ropes. The students and families of the school staff were collecting their clothing that was scattered across the windblown landscape. There was a well with a lever for pumping up clean water from the ground to wash the clothes. James and I went to the World Vision office and obtained lots of bags of rice. As often as we were able we delivered rice to needy folks in the Barangays where we had held our evangelistic meetings. We had our own homes and families that needed our care. The challenge of getting to the market each day to purchase food took half a days effort. Within a couple of weeks we had some sense of normalcy aside from the loss of electrical power. The pole and electrical lines had been removed from the roads and life became a little easier for market runs to buy fish and vegetables. I often used the Suzuki and went alone to the market.
Stories from Sesame St.
Soon after the typhoon we left the first home and moved to live on Sesame street. I had purchased enough furniture for the empty house we leased. James and I loaded it on top of the green van and moved it all to our new place.
One afternoon I was sitting home studying and preparing sermons for my many invitations and for our church services at Leyte colleges when a kind, needy, and desperate woman knocked on the door. She wanted some help to buy a dress so she could be employed (the dress was a requirement). My $800 a month was split to $400 for supporting my family, and $400 for missions work, and renting the location for our church services. My pants had been hand scrubbed so often that the crotch area was worn thin to the point of becoming see through. However, I couldn’t just ignore or reject this poor woman. She told me where she lived and I told her I would be there in the afternoon to confirm her story and help her. When I arrived she had been able to rebuild her little Nipa hut. Her place was located outside the city towards the San Juanico bridge. Her children were all without clothing and there was a lack of food. I helped her with her most pressing issue which was buying the required uniform for her job offer.
It was always exciting on ‘Sesame’ street where we lived. There was a young man his skin darkened from being in the sun constantly. He was about twenty one but mentally a child. His body was lean muscle and he could frighten all the neighborhood kids and many of the adults. His name was Paulie. One evening Paulie was angered by a local policeman patrolling the streets on his bicycle. When I looked out the front window to see what all the yelling was about I saw the policeman’s bike crashed on the curb and he was pointing his 45 at Paulie who was yelling at him and holing a big rock in his hand. I had my wife, kids, and helpers all lie on the floor for safety. Paulie’s mother came out and pleaded with the policeman to put down his gun and leave. Fortunately he listened and the situation was diffused. Paulie never spoke to me and avoided bothering me. I did tell my kids who rode their bicycles out front not to get involved with Paulie in any way.
All three of my kids attended the school that was just 100 yards away from our house. Ining and Lynlyn walked them to school each day. Their mother ‘Nympha’ would ensure everyone was well before leaving to buy hot bread and conduct a Bible study prayer time in one of the nearby barnagays.
Our house was on a corner, and next to us across the street was the local hangout of the hubog hubog or drunkards. These guys just sat around consuming Tuba, smoking and eating. On one occasion a local dog decided to bite a child and promptly became their afternoon BBQ. I wasn’t surprised, it would be shocking to some folks to see how a dog is bled and skined for human consumption. For this reason I didn’t let my kids watch the hubog hubog slaughter the dog.
Trinity surprised me with her ability to speak Waray Waray when playing miniature pool with her friend. Michael had learned Tagalog, Waray Waray, and English. Gregg studied Tagalog at school and picked up a little Waray. Gregg and Michael used their new tennis shoes for brakes while doing stunts on their bicycles! They were good kids and didn’t cause any trouble beyond what little kids do.
