Sagot :
Answer:
A wake up call: One typhoon survivor's story
story:
It was 5 o’ clock on a Friday morning of November 8, 2013, when my family was awakened by the unnerving wailing of the ferocious winds. We thought it was just another normal stormy day, so we sat together on the dining table and had breakfast. As the wind and rain got stronger, we felt the house vibrate and tremble because of the pressure. When we looked outside, trees were already uprooted; our concrete walls were destroyed, windows cracked and all of a sudden murky waters came rushing in. In just a matter of seconds, the water rose to knee level. I rushed to my room to get my backpack filled with my stuff- it didn’t even take me 3 minutes to do that- but as I went out of my room, the water was already up to my chest. We had no other choice but to go out of the house or else we will be trapped inside. Due to the strong current rushing in, I had a hard time getting out of the house but my mom pulled me out.
As the water was rising, we struggled more to stay afloat, and it became more difficult to stay together. My elder brother- the one who survived- was the first one who got separated from us. He tried to swim for the floating ice box, so we could put my nephew inside but we failed to do that. I saw my sister-in-law drifting away from us while she held on to a tree branch. Then, I saw my nephew with a lifejacket on- floating behind his mom. I saw his father- my eldest brother swim to their direction. But everything was so hazy- I couldn’t see well because of the strong wind and rain, and it was as if crushed ice were being thrown at my face. My parents were the ones close in proximity, thus we held on to a log. At that point, I could see the worry in their eyes that they were trying to hide. I never expected that the last memory I would have with my father would be in the monstrous floods of Haiyan. I saw him trying to surface the waters, gasping for air- three times- and that was it, I never saw him again after that. Then, I saw a refrigerator floating, so I held onto it and let my mom hold it as well. We found ourselves at the building near the back of our house. The waves were crashing onto the refrigerator we were holding that I was being pushed under the steel trusses, I was afraid to be trapped so I pushed the refrigerator away and held onto a log instead; that was the time my mom and I got separated.
Striving to surface the water as piles of debris were blocking my head, I felt like I was being spun inside a washing machine. I could not breathe and I seriously thought I was going to die. Not knowing what to do, I told myself if that was the day I was going to my watery grave, then so be it. Never in my life have I talked to God with deep remorse and in complete surrender. However, death decided to “postpone”, I was given another chance to live. Using my head I pushed the debris away until I was able to surface. As soon as I saw my mother, I immediately drifted towards her, grabbed her arms and tried to lift half of her body so she could hold on to the wood I was using to stay afloat. But when my hands slipped from her arms to her fingers, her body splashed into the water and there was no sign of her struggling to survive.
and my mom was gone...
I found myself being swept away by the 15 ft. high storm surge to the steel frames of a water tank, as my mother died in my arms. Then, I was forced to face a question I never thought I could ask myself in this lifetime- should I continue to hold on to my mom’s lifeless body and die with her? Or should I let her go and save myself?
I could not even begin to describe the agony, the desperation, the guilt, and the chaos running through my mind because I was torn between saving what’s left of my family and holding on for my dear life. But at the back of my mind, something told me that there must be a reason why I was able to survive the storm and no matter how insurmountable it may seem, I want to find out what that reason is.
Thus, with all the love that I had- I asked for my mom`s forgiveness for everything I did that hurt her. I thanked her being the strong woman that she is, and for everything she has done for our family. I told her I love her again and again, I embraced and kissed her for the last time.
And that was it- I let her go and I never looked back...
Questions:
1.Where did it happen?
•in the Philippines
2.Where did the typhoon form?
•the city of Tacloban, Philippines.
3.What was the damage?
•12,270 structures were destroyed and 46,553 partially damaged in Tacloban. Bodies were found scattered across Tacloban City , survivors reported floating cars, and even an oceangoing freighter driven inland, all crushing houses and injuring those caught up in the flood.