Super Typhoon Odette landed on the Philippines

On the 16th of December 2021, typhoon Odette, or internationally known as typhoon Rai struck the Philippines. This typhoon almost ruined some Filipino families' Christmas festivities. It devastated and damaged the people of Visayas and Mindanao.

NOAA. (2021). A satellite image of Typhoon Odette captured by the Himawari-8 satellite of the Japan Meteorological Agency. National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service. NOAA. Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/super-typhoon-rai-pummels-the-philippines.

Dealing heavy damage with winds up to 150 miles per hour, heavy rains, landslides and storm surges, typhoon Odette left the people of the Philippines worried. Some may say that it was just a fraction of what the people already experienced with Sendong, Yolanda and other past typhoons, but if Odette was compared to the typhoons Sendong and Yolanda, it would have been a combination of both typhoons. It's just that, now, the people are more prepared and ready for whatever the typhoon throws at them. But still, the typhoon left a big part of Visayas and Mindanao that needed repairing. It included land that needed rearrangements, houses and buildings that needed to be fixed from ground-up, people that needed homes and most importantly people that needed repairing because of the traumatizing experience they had during typhoon Odette.

Typhoon Odette destroyed a lot of establishments and homes around the country especially the Visayas and Mindanao islands and that is why the nation is now learning more about the extent of the damage it has caused among the Filipino citizens who wail for assistance with the hopes of recovering from the disaster. This will be hard for many but as we all know Filipinos never give up. If Filipinos see other Filipinos help, this will trigger a chain reaction and the help will only get bigger. The people are stronger together and that is why recovering from this typhoon will not take so long. Even after the typhoon, Visayas and Mindanao still celebrated Christmas like there was no typhoon, showing others that recovery is on it's way.

“Resiliency – a word often associated with Filipinos after a catastrophe. But the real question now is, will we truly recover from this? Yes. Together, hand-in-hand let us unite for the victims of Typhoon Odette and commence deeper into the facts related to the calamity.” Together as one, the Filipino people will rise again from this calamity. Reclaim strength and build even stronger shields that will keep us safe from future calamities that will affect the Philippines. Every struggle in life is but a mere lesson for many to learn ways to be stronger and smarter.

Written by: Cherey Canales, CRS Newsletter Writer