At another place on the river, over 5000 are still listed as “missing” from just the section shown in my picture on the blog. One of the people still missing is the little daughter of the woman pictured. The woman is one of our sisters in Christ who lives in this place. Her daughter was to turn 6 on Thursday (Jan. 12). There remains little doubt she has perished and will not see another birthday in this world. As Jhun talked with the woman, she showed us the light pole with a black tie around it at the top. That marks the level the water reached during the flood. At one point in the flood, fifty people were clinging to the top of a mango tree to avoid being swept away. The sister we met was thankful for the food provided through funds sent ahead by brethren in the US and was appreciative of the more substantial supplies that will be made available in the next two days as we pay for the supplies so they can be released. She was standing in the line for supplies being handed out by the government. We saw a few carrying those supplies for that day – it was about the size of a WalMart plastic sack only half full that was given to each family. Jhun told us today was good because many days, the government had no food at all to hand out.
The destruction was obvious all around town. In one of the main areas, water was chest high running through streets, houses and businesses. Fires from burning debris were everywhere. The damage near the rivers was comparable to what I have seen in the wake of an F5 tornado – total destruction. The destruction from the lesser level of flood-water plus the typhoon winds was significant where cement structures were standing, though gutted within and roofing material blown away. Please remember that what I am seeing now is after massive amounts of ongoing cleanup have already taken place. It continued at a steady pace as we viewed the scenes.
As I said, we only had a brief time to see some of the destruction near our path to the hotel. No doubt, we will see more over the next few days. My heart is already broken from what we have seen. Please pray for these people – especially our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also for the terrible suffering so many people here are enduring daily!I am sorry this report is coming much later than I normally send it out. As I was preparing it last night, I feel asleep from being so exhausted and decided to get up early this morning (Thursday here) in order to send it out. The Lord willing, I will continue reports on the relief tomorrow. Thank you for your help in this effort and your concern for our Filipino brethren!
Brotherly, Harry O.
