The following is an account of Typhoon Yolanda/Typhoon Haiyan from my perspective.

It is based on the
best recollection I have and my observations before, during and after the typhoon. I have tried my best
to remember everything that happened, but please bear with me if I ramble during some of it. I lived in
Bislig, Tanauan, Leyte. It is about 25 km south of Tacloban City and 1 km north of Tolosa, Leyte. The eye
of the typhoon was a few kilometers wide and hit Tolosa, Leyte approximately 7 a.m.
Prior to the typhoon we had warnings that a big typhoon was heading our way. This was not unusual for
the central Philippines. I have been asked many times why didnt you evacuate?. We were never given
any official warning about the typhoon and storm surge, and we were never given any evacuation notice
from anyone in Bislig, or Tanauan or Tacloban. I have read articles and heard reports that there were
dire warnings from Manila to evacuate the area and warnings of a storm surge. None of those warning
reached me or my neighbors in Bislig. I had spent the two days prior to the typhoon in Tacloban and
Robinson Mall, a major market in Palo, Leyte, there were no announcements or postings of notices
anywhere to be seen. No one seemed to have any idea of what was headed our way.
As I look back on things I am thankful that I stayed where I was and did no evacuate. Had I evacuated I
would have checked into a hotel in downtown Tacloban and I believe we would have had a much worse
experience and possibly could have died in Tacloban. Even if we had been warned of a coming storm
surge, there was no official evacuation route to higher ground and no apparent evacuation plan. In fact,
thousands of people including the Mayor of Tacloban evacuated to the Astrodome. Subsequently
hundreds of people died inside the Astrodome as they were hit by the same storm surge that hit Bislig.

November 6, 2013 - Wednesday
Typhoon Haiyan passes over Palau. Strong winds, significant damage in Kayangel, but no deaths
reported in Palau. I started to hear reports about a typhoon approaching the Philippines. Classes for
students were cancelled as usual. The weather was sunny and nice. I went to Tacloban to buy some
supplies. The stores were crowded with people buying canned goods. I purchased some food and drinks
with some snacks in case of an extended brownout.
November 7, 2013 -Thursday
I checked Facebook status updates from friends living in Palau. Palau dodged another bullet. Only
strong winds and some structural damage reported in Palau.
People around Bislig and around Tacloban were very casual and were just stocking up on supplies. There
seemed to be no sense of urgency, it was just another typhoon. I received a text from Marial, Kians
mother, asking to be driven to the hospital to pick up an x-ray. I didnt want to go to Tacloban because I
felt that it would be a lot of traffic but surprisingly there was little traffic and things seemed normal and
quiet. After dropping her off at the hospital I did stop by a grocery store again to get a few more items,
just in case. During both trips on November 6 and 7
th
I did not observe any PUBLIC NOTICES or
announcements of a typhoon or EVACUATION.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the house. Others in the Bislig were busy tying their roofs
down with rope to secure for the coming winds. The entire day there was NO barangay meeting,
warning or notice of the upcoming typhoon. Late in the afternoon a small car with a speaker on top,
often used for campaigns, drove through Bislig. It drove through only once and I could not hear it clearly
and even if I did hear it, I would not have understood it because it was in Waray Waray, the local dialect.
If it was important, I would have expected that one of my cousins or neighbors would mention it as I
passed them on the streets. None of them spoke to me or warned me of any evacuation notice. In fact,
there was NO evacuation given to the residents of Bislig. There was no Barangay meeting about what to
do in the event of a strong typhoon. People just went about their daily routines. I was never contacted
by or checked on by any of my relatives. I was left on my own, to fend for myself. I did stop to ask
Adelina if it was okay if I stayed at Uncle Anitos house if the typhoon got bad. She said it would be okay.
20:30
I checked the internet and satellite photos of the typhoon. One of the last things I read on the website
was a short mention of a possible 3m storm surge. Those words stuck in my mind, but I never imagined
what that would mean. It looked to me as if the storm was heading on a straight line directly from Palau
to Bislig.
I spent the evening packing my backpack and a small water proof bag with a few clothes for Kian and me
and Niccole. It amounted to a backpack with important papers such as, passports, birth certificates,
etc., laptop computer,ipad, camera. 2 waterproof bags 20liters and 10liters filled mostly with kians
shorts and shirts. Toothbrushes, toothpaste. Kian also packed his school backpack with some of his
favorite toys, mostly hotwheel cars. I had texted to my neighbor Ely Dunagan to see what her plans
were, but my texts went unanswered.
22:30
Kian, Niccole and I were in the bedroom. Kian was already sleeping. Niccole told me that she received a
text from her parents in Eastern Samar. They were worried about her and told her that people in
Eastern Samar were already evacuating. The news of this really started to alert me to the upcoming
danger. It began earlier when I read about the storm surge. I didnt focus on that one point, but it left
me with an uneasy feeling after reading the weather report. The storm looked huge on the satellite
photos.
I was not able to sleep at all and decided that I needed to pack a couple of extra suitcases with some
items. The bags were packed and sitting by the bedroom door, all ready to go.
November 8, 2013 Friday
02:00
The uneasiness continued to grow inside of me. By 2am I told Niccole that I was going to carry my 2
small suitcases to my car which was parked at my Uncles neighboring house. I opened the trunk of the
car and put them inside. I returned to the house and tried to think if there was anything else that I
needed to pack. I packed a plastic bag with Kians can of powdered milk, snacks, and water. I told her
that I was doing it only for the worst case scenario.
03:45
Kian, Niccole, wagomu (my dog), and I all moved out of the bedroom and tried to sleep on the floor in
the family room. The winds were already starting to blow in off of the beach. We mainly moved so that
we wouldnt get wet from the rain coming in from the bedroom window. By now we were already
experiencing a brown out and could not sleep. Kian was able to rest a bit and was awake off and on. I
started to get concerned about what we should do if the storm gets very strong. Niccole and I discussed
what we would do. We decided that if the winds got too strong we would move to my Uncles house.
05:30- 06:30
The winds started to gust quite strongly now. Niccole and I make the decision to move to Uncle Anitos
house. I first need to check to make sure that the house was open and that we can go there. I told
Niccole to wait for me as I was going to run next door to check. I told her that if things get bad while I
was gone, to go inside the bathroom because the walls were solid. I ran next door and things were
starting to get crazy, rain and gusting winds. I knocked on the door and Bem Bem, Adelinas son-in-law
answered the door. I told him that we wanted to move to the house and he said okay. I ran back to my
house and told Niccole to get our 2 bags and backpack. I grabbed my backpack and other bag as well as
carried Kian in my arms. I brought my dog, wagomu, on leash over to Uncle Anitos house. She grabbed
one bag and the plastic bag with Kians milk and snacks and also a spare leash for wagomu. As we got to
the road Bem Bem met us and he grabbed some of our bags and helped us to get to the house. As we
arrived at the house I needed to tie wagomu up so that she would not run away. I asked Niccole for the
leash, but somewhere between the two houses it was dropped. I quickly ran back out into the storm to
retrace our steps. I ran almost all the way back to my house when I found the leash on the path. I quickly
gathered it up and ran to my Uncles house. Once at the house I connected the two leashes together
and tied Wagomu to the front of my old car in the carport.
Inside the house were Adelina, Iris, Bem Bem, their kids, Uncle Manuel Borromeo, Aida Kempis, and her
kids Joy, Lovely, Kerwin, Sunshine. They were all huddled in the hallway and the kids were crying
because of the winds and rain. Uncle Manuel was acting a little unusual and would not leave the kitchen
area. We kept calling him to stay away from the windows but he refused to leave the kitchen. I put our
bags in one of the spare bedrooms. Adelina and them told me that they were expecting us to come to
the house the night before. My 2 cars were parked in the carport. The old one was near the door and
the new one was behind that, exposed to the winds. I regretted that i did not switch places for the two
cars. As I was standing outside talking with Bem Bem a palm leaf came crashing down on the windshield
of my car. I decided that I would try to move my car a little to avoid more damate. Bem Bem helped me.
I started to receive texts from Marial and other friends checking on us. I texted them that we had
already moved to my Uncles house, and that we were safe. I had texted my cousin Rey earlier asking
them where they were, only hours later did I receive a text that they were staying in Uncle Nolings
house. The last text I received was around 06:15 from Marial telling me to take care of Kian.
I had two Pelican Dry boxes with me. Inside I put my cellphone, 2 spare cellphones (fully charged),
lighter, 2 external hard drives with all my files and photos. They were closed and sealed up as we
expected the rain to soak us if the roof was blown off. The rain was coming in through the patio doors
and the kids were all huddled in the hallways screaming and crying. There was a big thud that hit the
house. Adelina and I looked out the north bedroom window and saw that one of the coconut trees fell
onto the house. Things were starting to get crazy. The winds were intense. The winds were more than
200mph and one thing that I noticed was the barometric pressure. The pressure was dropping low
enough that I had to equalize my ears, just like when scuba diving or ascending on an airplane. The
sounds were intense and truly sounded like a train was heading towards our house. The power was
unbelievable.
The next thing I realize is that someone is yelling that the water is coming. I really didnt know what to
think but when I turned around I saw that everyone was running out the door. Niccole, Kian and I were
still in the hallway. I turned to her and told her to quickly gather our bags up. We had 3 raincoats and I
put on my backpack and then the raincoat. I had difficulty getting the raincoat over my backpack. I asked
her to help pull it over my backpack. I put the other raincoat on Kian and also had Niccole put the
raincoat on. By the time we got back into the hallway everyone was gone. It seemed like a long time, but
we were only about a minute behind everyone. I asked Niccole where they were running to? I thought it
was better to first decide where we were running to. Apparently people were heading towards the Bislig
Simbahan (Church).
06:30 13:00
The water had blasted through the patio door by now. I picked up Kian and held him in my left arm. We
were barefoot and as I moved to the front door, it was closed shut by the flow of the water and we were
not able to open it. Fortunately, somehow the kitchen door was open and the screen door opened with
the flow of the water. As I went from the hallway to the screen door I slipped and fell onto my left
elbow. For a brief moment I lost hold of Kian but quickly grabbed him and stood up with him back in my
arms. My elbow was sore but I did not know how badly it was injured. As I stood on the steps of the
kitchen I was confronted by the view of my car floating and blocking our path to safety. I waded into the
water and had to push my car to the side so that we could pass. I had Kians backpack and bag of milk in
my hands but had to let them go. This was a real HOLY SHIT moment.
We made our way to the front porch to gather our thoughts. I found that Adelina was left on the porch
with us as well as Uncle Manuel. As I stood there thinking what to do, I realized that wagomu was still
attached to my car. I saw her attached to the car as she and the car floated by. I quickly gave Kian to
Niccole and I went into the water to disconnect her leash. She swam by my side back to the porch and
was staying near us. I told Niccole and Adelina that we were going to have to swim. I advised them to
see if we can find anything that was floating. Niccole had the idea of getting the cushions from the
couch. She tried getting into the front door, but was unable to get in because of the water flow. The
lower half of the door broken but she still could not get in to get the cushions. She injured her foot as
she tried to get in. I told her to never mind about the cushions as there were so many trees and things
floating by. I didnt have time to look around but was just focused on what we needed to grab on.
I decided it was time for us to get into the water and try to get to the church. With Kian in my arm and
the bag in the other we waded into the raging currents. Niccole had one of the dry bags and although it
didnt keep things dry, it did provide some flotation. Adelina was still on the standing on the rail of the
porch screaming my name and asking me to help her. I told her to come along with me. She did not
know how to swim. I kept her close to me and helped her to find something to hold onto. Niccole was in
the water and drifting across the barangay road. Kian and Adelina and I were slightly behind. I tried to
keep my eyes on her. At that time I did not see and did not know where Uncle Manuel was. By now the
winds continued to gust up to 225 mph and the currents were very strong. I saw entire coconut trees
and pieces of my house floating by. I grabbed onto a piece of a tree and started to float. I told Adelina
to keep climbing onto the debris field that we were part of now. She continued to scream but as long as
she was near and screaming, I knew she was still alive. As we crossed the road in the direction of my
cousin Ginas house I saw Niccole drifting on the other side of the house. I was worried that we would
be separated. At the same time I was beginning to get concerned that my feet would get stuck in all the
debri and that we would be trapped. I kept kicking to keep my legs and feet free. I continued to keep
Kian above the water and he was very brave, very quiet and calm during our swim. Wagomu was
swimming by our side for a while, but I lost sight of her after a few minutes. As we passed Ginas house I
saw Niccole again and she was floating in front of us and a little closer to us. Adelina was still right
behind me and Kian was still in my arms. There was beginning to be a lot of trees and things getting
stuck on the fence behind the church. I kept my feet moving and kept moving Kian above the water. At
one point I was getting squeezed between some of the trees and used my feet and my back to open a
path for us and for Adelina to get by. By now we were in sight of the church and I started to focus on the
land. Niccole was in front of us. I saw her wade out of the water and I was getting near the church too. I
kept looking behind me to check on Adelina. As we drifted to the shallow water I finally was able to
stand up. MarK Kempis came towards us and tried to help me. I had Kian in my arm and my bag in the
other. I told him to grab Adelina. I looked over my shoulder and she was still hanging on to a piece of a
tree and I saw Mark go to pull her out of the water. She was scared...but she was ALIVE.
I dont know how long it had been that we were swimming. The winds were still extremely strong and
the water continued to rise. Although we were on land, I didnt know how long that would last. As we
entered the South entrance of the church I saw hundreds of people huddled on the altar. I also noticed
that all the gates were closed. There were only two gate doors open at the church, one on the south and
one on the north. The altar was inside to the East. As we walked up to the altar to get out of the storm I
noticed hundreds of people huddled and crying. Many kids had climbed up the walls to get away from
the water. As we stood on the altar, cold and scared, I worried that there would be worse ahead. The
wind was blowing very cold and after being soaked it made us even colder. We stood shivering on the
altar, uncomfortable and tired. I wanted to put Kian down because he was heavy and my arm was
aching. I noticed blood dripping from the long sleeve of my raincoat. I noticed that both Kian and Niccole
had lost their raincoats during our initial swim. I dont remember what happened that caused them to
lose it, but they were getting cold. Niccole pointed out that there was a very large speaker hanging
directly over our head above the altar. I was very concerned that the speaker would fall on top of us and
kill us. I was the most frightened while we were standing on the altar. The winds were still strong and
my ears continued to have to be equalized.
Things were getting crazier. All of the pews had floated away and were starting to block the North gate,
which was the only exit. People continued to scream and cry as the water continued to rise. Guys were
climbing up the gates and taking anything they could find to break the stained glass. Glass was raining
down around us, not from the rain but from the guys. This was done so that there was less glass to fly
around and injure people. The problem was that most of us were barefoot. I dont remember how long
we stood inside the church, but it must have been close to 15 minutes. I made the decision that it was
not safe inside the church with hundreds of panicked people who did not know how to swim. I turned to
Niccole and told her that I think that we would be safer to go back into the water. If we didnt move
soon, we could get trapped in a stampede for the one and only exit. She looked at me and agreed.
We had made the decision to go back into the water and into the typhoon and take our chances rather
than drown and die inside the church. It was one of the most difficult decisions I made the entire day.
We quickly moved toward the church exit on the North side and waded into chest deep waters inside
the church. As we got back outside of the church people were just looking at us like we were crazy. Kian
was still calm and quiet. Once we were out of the church we easily found wood to hold onto. The water
was much warmer than standing in the windy and cold church. I still worried that we would get sucked
under or that we would be hit by flying debris. At least Niccole, Kian and I were together this time. We
started to drift to the North in the direction of my Lolas house. I just hugged Kian and wondered how
long this wind would last. I had removed my raincoat and put it on Kian to keep him warm. We
continued to float/ swim for a while always making sure that we would not get our feet stuck. I was
surprised that we did not float too far past the church. Apparently there was a fence between the
church and my Lolas house that blocked much of the debris . We floated back and forth between the
fence and the church. At one point I had Kians head and mine covered by the hood of the raincoat.
Niccole kept her eyes open and was watching out for hazards. She told me to watch out above my head
because there was a branch near me. Apparently I didnt notice it soon enough and I got a scratch on my
forehead.
The water started to recede enough that Niccole and I were holding onto a big log when we started
kicking toward the church. As the water slowly receded we pushed the log next to the outside wall of
the north facing wall of the church. Finally we were able to sit down on the log with our back against the
wall. The wind was still blowing strong and it made it very cold. There were pieces of plywood on the
inside of the church that were getting blown against the gate. This provided us a little relief from the
wind and we were sheltered. I dont know how much time had passed from the first swim but I believe
that it was already close to 12 noon. I looked down at Kian and he was laying on the log wrapped up in
the raincoat with his head on my lap. He was sound asleep. I was amazed that he was able to rest. I was
exhausted and finally noticed the blood continuing to run down my arm. I looked at my arm and noticed
a big gash on my left forearm, it was about 2 inches long and about an inch wide. The good news was
that I still had feeling in my hands and complete mobility of my arm and hand. My concern was that
infection would be a problem. At that point we had no idea how bad the storm was and how many
people were affected. All we knew was that Bislig got a direct hit. My thoughts started to be about
getting to Tacloban and getting to a doctor to stitch my arm up. As I looked around, people inside the
church started to move about. Mostly teenage kids were moving around. Immediately they started
picking up mismatched slippers. They waded into the water and climbed over the broken trees and
plywood to get anything they could find. I noticed many of the items floating by were from my
refrigerator and kitchen cabinet. I noticed some powdered orange juice that I had purchased the day
before. Kids were grabbing chips, and skyflakes and eating them. Others were fishing out water
containers looking for fresh water. Keep in mind that this was still while the storm was going on. I was
struck by the survival instincts of the survivors. They immediately were thinking about food and water. I
was thinking of getting out of there.
The winds finally started to slow down and people started to venture out to assess the damage. Trees
were down everywhere and people were crying. I saw refrigerators, pieces of my house and just total
devastation. I looked toward the highway and saw some pedicabs buried under some debris. I told
Niccole that we could take the pedicab and drive it up to Tacloban. My initial thoughts were just to get
to Tacloban and we would be okay. As we sat there I noticed some people near my Lolas house wading
out of the water and to the highway. I recognized them as my cousin Rey and his family including Uncle
Noling, Aunt Flory and the kids. I didnt know where they were going but they seemed to walk north up
the highway.
Time stood still, but we must have been sitting there for at least an hour when I recognized my friend JV
who had been visiting us in Bisilg. He was walking down the road surveying things. He came by the
church and noticed me. I asked him if he could find a clean cloth or anything to wrap my arm in. I had
temporarily tied one of my shirts around my arm, but it did little good. JV left and returned after 30
minutes. He brought with him a small cloth to wrap my arm, it was a little better than the shirt that I had
been using. As things winds calmed, it still was raining and cloudy. I noticed my cousin Grace, Uncle
Noling and cousin Rey walking on the road in the direction of the church. Grace noticed me and then
turned around and started to walk back in the direction she came from. After a few steps I saw her turn
back and talk to Uncle Noling. At that point Rey noticed me and called to me. He motioned for us to
come with him.
13:00
I picked up Kian and our bags and walked from the church to the highway. I noticed that my feet were
very tender and sore from our swim. Uncle Noling led us north up the highway and eventually to Efram
and Gina Merilos house. We walked through the gate and towards the back entrance of the house. As
we walked through the kitchen and into the living room we passed many of my nieces and nephews.
Uncle Noling brought me to the living room where Bubbles was sitting on a table with some alcohol and
paper napkins. Bubbles is a nursing student and next to her was my cousin Grace who is a graduate of
nursing. Grace took a quick glimpse of my cuts and quickly turned away in disgust. Fortunately Bubbles
was able to handle it and she proceeded to clean one of the cuts on my arm with the alcohol. She
covered one of the cuts with a napkin and used tape to secure it on my arm.
People inside the house were stunned and quiet. We were inside a nice home, however everything
inside the house was wet and water was raining through the ceiling tiles. Apparently the storm surge
went across the highway and through the Merilo home. The roof was blown off the house and the water
was chest high during the surge. My Uncle and cousins were all sitting quietly on the available chairs and
on the floor. Niccole, Kian and I joined them in silence.
We didnt quite know what to do. We were happy to be out of the rain and out of the wind. There was
not much to do at that moment. The Merilo family was very kind to allow us to come to their home. No
one really talked to us and I was just trying to piece things together. Someone brought a cup and some
water for us to drink. We were wet and cold and tired. I knew that it was important for us to get
hydrated and warm. The events of the day were a blur. Time seemed to slow down dramatically. We
were in the middle of something big, we just didnt realize how big it was at that time.
The hours passed and the sun began to set. Uncertainty was everywhere. My cousin Grace brought a
few crackers and some small bottles of coke to the house. It seems they had some supplies over at my
Lolas house, I never really found out where they came from but that is what I assumed. She was kind
enough to share one small bottle of coke and 2 small packets of skyflake crackers.