At Brgy. Anibong and Rawis, coastal villages facing Cancabato Bay, terror gripped its residents as 10 ships anchored in the bay were swept ashore by the strong storm surges, levelling everything that stood in their way. Even strong concrete structures were no match for the behemoth ships, one carrying some 32,000 bags of cement and another thousands of sacks of rice. “Along this 1-kilometer stretch of coastline is proof of Yolanda’s unprecedented fury, and how it turned this once-bustling coastal village into a virtual parking lot for 10 big ships scattered along the coast in different stages of disarray like downed, oversized tenpins,” wrote Inquirer’s Danny Petilla.[i] To save themselves, many of the survivors either fled to a nearby hill or hid in tall concrete buildings.
The Canadian Doug Nienhuis, who visited the area five days after the typhoon, wrote in his journal: ”These were huge ships – four of them. I can’t even imagine the power of the wind and water that had blown them up there and deposited them high on the hill. Imagine these poor people living there. The massive winds of the typhoon had torn their homes to pieces. Then the ocean had risen up with terrible power and consumed it all. You’d think that would be enough, but then a series of huge cargo ships appear and crash through, smashing everything to bits.. ..At one point, I had to step over the huge anchor chain leading up to one of the ships. Just offshore, I could see the anchor. It had been dragged there as the ship went inland.”[ii]
Like an angel of death
In the town of Palo, 12 kilometers south of Tacloban, some 500 parishioners sought shelter inside the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral and its rectory. Like Archbishop John Du, they believed that the supertyphoon would bypass the town and move somewhere because of their prayers. But Yolanda went on its course, blowing down much of everything in its way. Its high winds ripped off the roofs of the rectory and the cathedral. Archbishop Du’s residence located on a hill was damaged while his private chapel collapsed.
“The typhoon was really very strong. It was so unusual. When it hit Palo, it was like the angel of death. It looked like a white smoke that went inside every room, destroyed the doors, blew the roofs off, and killed everyone,” Du said when interviewed. Fortunately, not one of the 500 who sought shelter in the cathedral was hurt. But when they went out, they saw bodies scattered on the streets and the entire town in ruins.[iii] Pictures of the town showed it looked like several bombs had been dropped on the town.
In San Joaquin, a coastal barangay of Palo about three kilometres going south, the water came at around 7:15 in the morning, rising up to 12 to 15 feet and lasting for over three hours. The priest Fr. Kevin Apurillo and some parishioners took shelter in the second floor of the rectory where they felt safe. Here they witnessed houses, trees and people being carried by the strong current from the surging sea. Apurillo later wrote in his FB account that much as he wanted to rescue people, it was next to impossible as they themselves needed to be rescued.
“I myself felt weak. The worst feeling I ever had as pastor of the place was that at that very moment, when my sheep needed me, I was not able to give them what they needed. I kept to myself and just prayed to God. After three hours of ordeal, we came down from the second level of the convent. And there I witnessed the most shocking scenario: dead bodies scattered all over the place. The truth was that I could not cry. I immediately grabbed a bottle of holy water and started blessing them. I started blessing around 12:30 in the afternoon and finished at around 4:30. I was able to bless 65 bodies,” he wrote.[iv]
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[i] Petilla, Danny,”Yolanda survivors: Life in the shadow of giant ships,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, 3:11 am, Sunday, March 23rd, 2014
[iii] Joey A. Gabieta and Ador Vincent S. Mayol, “Yolanda was like the ‘angel of death,’” says prelate of Palo, Inquirer Visayas, 10:15 pm, Saturday, November 16th, 2013
[iv] Apurillo, Fr. Kelvin Joy M., Parish Priest, https://www.facebook.com/ben.ebcas/posts/10203308340926434
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