Typhoon Yolanda destruction in area of Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines

Aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda
(International name Haiyan)

Butz (pronounced Boots) Eguia, our tour guide during our recent trip to Leyte, has shared 370 of his own photos, taken in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda.  Photos can only begin to show the horrors of what is believed to be the strongest recorded tropical storm to ever make landfall, with sustained winds of 195 mph (314 kph).  We sifted through these photos and came up with 30 from the day of the storm, 30 from the next few days, and 30 more from about a month later.

Nov. 8, 2013

The Day of the Storm

The following photos show Tacloban on the afternoon of November 8, just hours after the storm practically destroyed the largest city on the island of Leyte in the eastern Visayas, the central region of the Philippines.  Imagine what is must have been like to come out of your shelter or hiding place and to see what, if anything, was left of your life, loved ones, and earthly possessions.

The first two photos are of a large cargo ship that is now on land.  We showed you a recent photo of this same vessel in our last newsletter.  The area is somewhat rebuilt but the ship is still there.  Imagine the strength and height of the storm surge that could pick up such a ship and move it up a hill.

 

 

The final two photos above show "Calle Zaragosa," the residence and restaurant of Ludette Ruiz and her family.  It is the building in the center-left, with the yellow-gold oval shaped sign. She also owns the tour company that handled all of our logistics during our time in Leyte.  We ate dinner there on our final night with them, and Ludette told us that their property sustained damage, but thanks to Butz's photos we can see and be astonished for ourselves.

Nov. 9-11, days 2 through 4
  

Nov. 23 thru Dec. 17: Two to five weeks after Yolanda

 From the following photos, it is evident that very little had changed from immediately after the disaster.  Life was still in survival mode.  When we visited in October, less than a year after these photos were taken, life had seemingly returned to normal, with the most obvious evidence being that many large buildings, which had sustained damage, were still neither repaired nor demolished.  In contrast, almost all of the debris you will see in the following photos is now gone, small kubo-style huts have been erected for shelter and small businesses, most bigger businesses including the malls are reopened, and the greenery has returned.  What a contrast from these photos.

The final three photos are of the Palo Cathedral, which we had visited several times in the past five years. In April of 2013, they were finally near the end of a lengthy renovation process, and the church was gorgeous.  Our friend, U. S. Army veteran Don Dencker of the 96th, writes: "It is nice to see the Palo Cathedral roof being restored. Quite a number of 96th Infantry Division wounded were treated there in late October thru December 1944. On one tour I took for Valor Tours to Leyte, we had a 96th veteran who told of his life being saved there after being wounded. He went into the church, found a priest and gave him a sizable donation."

As we have previously mentioned, Pope Francis is scheduled to celebrate a mass at this cathedral in January, so the locals are doing everything they can to finish the restorations by then; we can see they have a long way to go, but believe that they'll finish in time.

We hope you took the time to go through these unbelievable and heart-breaking photos.  We whittled 370 down to 90, not an easy task.  If you were touched, take a minute and let us know how by posting a comment or sending us an email. We cannot respond directly to comments unless you provide your email address, which we promise not to publish or share.  Feel free to share it on your preferred social media.
 

Our most sincere thanks to Butz Eguia for all of these photos.



Romino S. Eguia, who goes by his pen name of Butz Eguia, is a retired electrical engineer and academician living now back in his home city of Tacloban. He has worked outside of his country for the last 17 years.  Following the storm, Butz took hundreds of photos and has kindly allowed us to share them with you.  He wrote a 150-page coffee table book about Typhoon Yolanda, (before and after scenes)  which contains his photos each with sidays, which are poems written in his native tongue Waray-waray, with corresponding English translations. The book, entitled "The Yolanda Encounter, Of Hope and More..."  is a fund-raising project of three umbrella manpower services providers all based in Metro Manila – ANZAEP (Australia and New Zealand Association of Employment Providers), PILMAT (Philippine Manpower Agencies to Taiwan) and PHILAAK (Philippine Agents Association for Kuwait). The proceeds from the book will help build a modern laboratory school building in an interior village in western Leyte.

Look for the book throughout the Philippines.  It is expected to be available in later this month.

Steve and Marcia on the Rock