Comval Province badly hit by Supertyphoon Pablo (Bopha)

It was an early Tuesday morning of December 04, 2012 when my sister, Ditse Yami commanded me to turn off the ceiling fan, because the cold was unbearable (We slept on the same bed that night along with her son AJ and she was still so sleepy to get up). I was also too lazy to move so the cold went on for a few more minutes. Later did we realize that it was not the fan bringing the cold, but the wind from outside because the window was left open. It felt as if our stand fan was set to number 3 (the strongest speed and volume of air it could offer). The curtains are swinging unusually so we got up and found out that the electricity is out, the mango tree from outside looks as if it's gonna break down, and Nanay is at the corner of their room praying for the bad weather to stop, - that was when we realized we are being hit by Supertyphoon Pablo (international name: Bopha). There were clattering, from the neighbor's rooftops that were blown away, and I can hear some of the people evacuating to the Brgy. Hall (which was just beside our house). Fear overruled within us, as we do not know when will it end, how far its damage would be and of course the fear that we might be harmed. But we chose to just stay in our own rooms, and waited for the storm to stop.  

The strong gust of the wind lasted for about 6 hours and heavy rainfall dropped. Thank GOD we're safe and sound. Around 3:00 pm in the afternoon, when everything and everybody's calm, and the rain has also stopped, we went out of the house to witness the damages and casualties brought about by Supertyphoon Pablo. These are some of the pictures we took, not far enough from our house. 

Up to this day, we still don't have electricity and water supply so we do not know that we are all over the news everyday, that Pablo largely hit the towns of Cateel in Davao Oriental and New Bataan in Comval which now seemed like a ghost town. As I read the news today, death toll rose up to thousands, and thousands are also still missing. Compostela Valley Province is not a typhoon prone area, and as per news and PAGASA, Pablo's landfall was expected to be at Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. But then again, Mother Nature showed us how powerful and unpredictable she is, as Pablo moved swiftly on its predicted path, sending roofs flying off houses, hectares of coconut trees tumbling, rivers bursting their banks, canceling flights and ferry services, church bells ringing and sirens wailing in a large part of Mindanao where it passed.

Residents did not expect Pablo's fury to be that strong that it would rake thousands of lives. It also ravaged the primary source of livelihood in many areas of Comval - bananas and coconuts. Soldiers who came to rescue even said in an interview that in the many years that they have been deployed to typhoon prone areas in the country, that was the first time they saw such strong wind, and wide damage caused by a typhoon. In Brgy. Andap, New Bataan (the most affected area), what was once mountainous village now seemed like a very wide riverbed. In the history of Comval Province, this is by far the worst and most grievous storm it has been through.