08/11/2022
Nine years ago, Eastern Visayas and multiple other areas in central Philippines were struck by the brutal and terrifying ferocity of Super Typhoon "YOLANDA" (Haiyan). It was 4:40 AM on the 8th of November 2013 when "YOLANDA" made its first fateful landfall over the municipality of Guiuan, Eastern Samar with 10-minute maximum sustained winds peaking at 235 km/h as estimated by DOST-PAGASA. It made five more landfalls over the Dulag-Tolosa area in Leyte; Daanbantayan, Cebu; Bantayan Island, Cebu; Concepcion, Iloilo; and Busuanga Island, Palawan.
The extremely intense winds, the unrelenting rains and the enormous waves and storm surge from "YOLANDA" left in its wake a swath of catastrophic destruction that was beyond comprehension. But worse than the material destruction are the thousands of human lives lost—dead and missing—and the millions more who survived but were left homeless and traumatized by the disaster.
But the Filipino spirit is one that perseveres despite the hopelessness and is one that imbibes gratitude and humility. We, the survivors of "YOLANDA", were broken and defeated yet we were still able to rise up again from the rubble and start building back from whatever was left from the catastrophe. Local, national and international aid poured in from generous hearts in the country and around the world. Soon, steady recovery and development bloomed among the striken communities years after the notorious super typhoon.
Nevertheless, this resiliency is not something that must be romanticized but it must be something that leaves a legacy for and inculcates vital lessons to all of us.
Now that we are in the ninth year of commemorating Super Typhoon "YOLANDA" (Haiyan), let us once again honor our loved ones and other fellow Filipinos who lost their lives from the catastrophe. And may the experience, memory and history of "YOLANDA" teach us to value our temporary human lives and relationships, to seek accountability from authorities, to make our meteorological knowledge and our disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) systems more robust, and to make utmost priority to climate justice and responding to the climate crisis.
Join us this coming November 23, 2022 (Wednesday) at 3:00–6:00 PM for the 9th YOLANDA AFTERMATH COMMEMORATION, to be held at the SLH and the VSU Ecopark in collaboration with HOMES, CET CAE, TARSIER, OBioS, and SOD; and sponsored by The Climate Reality Philippines.
