Philippine Self-Help Foundation
Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) Aftermath...
Typhoon Tino left a trail of destruction in the central Visayas and areas of PSHF operation were not spared. Our field office in the coastal barangay of Miranda in Negros Occidental was flooded as was the home that Sherry, our administrator shares with her father and sister Jacqueline and her family. Due to power cuts, it took a few days before we learned that the damage had been extensive throughout the barangay due to storm surges and fallen coconut trees on houses owing to the 150 kph winds and gusts of up to 205 kph.
Richard sent the following e-mail to everyone in PSHF on November 4th after Typhoon Tino had made landfall in Leyte the day before.
Dear all,
Would each of you please send all of us a short email ( once you have internet access) to let us know that you and your homes, family and neighbours are all OK after Tino's passage.
Here at Solinea, it was worse than I expected with trees down in the grounds and beyond and the lobby soaked and covered with leaves and small branches.
From what I understand, we were all in signal 3 areas with the exception of Rhiza as I believe Iloilo city was signal 4.
Tino followed the same path as typhoon Yolanda 13 years ago. I pity the poor people of northern Cebu who are still recovering from last month's earthquake; coincidentally, the 2013 Bohol earthquake occurred just 3 weeks before Yolanda.
Richard
ps Phady, how did your new home come through this? I hope there was no subsidence.
This map, showing the route of the typhoon, was included in Richard's email.
Helping the Victims...
We are fortunate to have Jacqueline on site; she is a daycare centre teacher in normal times and a volunteer for the municipality in times of calamities. Within a few days, she had identified nine individuals and families whose homes had been totally destroyed and a further 12 who needed materials to enable them to make repairs to their homes.
Jacqueline heard their stories and did short write-ups for us in PSHF to read. The testimonies are compelling. We are pleased to feature their stories along with photos in the section below:
Felina, a 37 year-old sugarcane worker.
Felina supports her 4 children, aged 3 to 13 years old from working in the sugarcane fields. She earns 300 pesos (US$5) a day. Regrettably, her husband JR. is in prison serving a 5 year sentence for being involved in an accident in which somebody was killed. The family had no money to compensate the victim’s family. Felina’s husband was a sugarcane truck driver.
On the day of the typhoon, the children were in the evacuation centre in the care of relatives and neighbours. As for Felina, she stayed in her mother’s concrete house and it is from there that she witnessed her home, made up of light materials, literally being blown down.
The plan: The construction of a 12 foot by 10 foot home comprised of a concrete base, plywood walls and tin sheets for the roof.
Lolita, an 87-year-old widow.
Lolita Torrelio in front of her damaged house. She patched it up with tarpaulins and roofing materials which she had found on the ground.
Lolita’s only source of income is her quarterly pension of 3,000 pesos (US$50) which she receives from the local government. She gets help from relatives including her niece and nephew, both farmers, who give her food on a regular basis.
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The plan: The construction of an 8 foot by 10 foot home comprised of a concrete base, plywood walls and tin sheets for the roof. We shall also be building Lolita an outside CR (comfort room).
Joey, a 50-year-old fisherman.
Joey and his children seen here amidst the debris of their collapsed home.
Joey is married to Marites and they have four children aged 13 to 22 years old. Marites is working in Manila as a house helper. She sends a large part of her salary to Joey to support the family.
During the typhoon, Joey and his children were all in the evacuation centre. His family home, located near the seashore was severely damaged due to the strong winds and the big waves from the sea.
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​The plan: The construction of a 16 foot by 16 foot home divided into two equally-sized rooms.
Leonardo and Darlene.
Leonardo and Darlene standing where their house was previously located.
The couple’s home was located near the La Granja river which on the day of the typhoon expanded to ten times its original size. The current brought down debris from the hills and swept away many homes including Leonardo’s and Darlene’s. Thankfully, they were in the safe precincts of the school that served as the evacuation centre when the typhoon struck the area.
A month on, Darlene and Leonardo, along with 50 other families, are still living in the school. Half the classrooms are being used for the evacuees and the students are being accommodated in the other classrooms in shortened hours.
The plan: The construction of a 12 foot by 10 foot home comprised of a concrete base, plywood walls and tin sheets for the roof.
Mary, a 76 year-old woman who sadly died just a couple of days after we had informed her that we would build her a new home.
Jacqueline learned the sad news of Mary’s death through a Facebook post by Mary's niece, Rona. It transpired that Rona had been living with Mary since her own mother had died when she was just 4 years old. Mary had been like a mother to her. Rona is now living in her cousin Marjorie’s home; this is where Mary stayed during the night of the typhoon.
Instead of building a home, we have helped the family by covering the cost of Mary’s coffin, the embalming and the funeral which took place on Sunday, December 7th.