Christmas 2012 is quickly sneaking up on us, just a few weeks away now. Unfortunately, though, I am seeing a lot of negative similarities between this coming Christmas and Christmas of 2011. If you recall, last year, Mindanao got hit very hard by Tropical Storm Sendong in December 2011. Tropical Storms and Typhoons rarely hit Mindanao, except for the extreme northern part of the island. Last year was a bit of a shock when Sendong passed through the island, and the death toll was great. I believe that in the end, nearly 1,500 people were killed by Sendong.
Over the past 24 hours, a Super Typhoon, Pablo, passed across Mindanao in a seemingly repeat act of December 2011. Something that is very rare happened two years in a row. It is too early to know what the death toll will be in the path of Pablo, only time will tell us that. I hope that it won’t be anywhere near what happened last year, but I do know that there have been deaths involved. I have been getting spotty reports of 20 deaths here, 40 deaths there, and on and on. All in all, I have heard of about 100 deaths in the areas of the Davao Region – Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte and the Compostela Valley (I have heard of no deaths in Davao del Sur). At this point, it is hard to know how accurate that is. Also, I feel certain that more deaths will be reported in areas like Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, among other parts of the island, and perhaps on other Philippine Islands as well. I have heard that Dumaguete City is being hit hard as well, as it also got with Sendong in 2011. From what I can tell, Iligan and Cagayan de Oro have been spared the massive destruction of 2011, I hope my information is correct.
It is Wednesday morning now. Very early Wednesday morning, it is about 2am as I type this article. Here in Davao City, we started getting rains on Monday evening around 9pm or 10pm, and it rained moderately throughout the night. By Tuesday morning, the winds started picking up. At about 8:30 or so, as I recall, I went outside and made a video (shown below) about the storm. At that time, we were getting steady winds of about 20 mph, with gusts up to about 50 mph, I would estimate. It was a bit scary in Davao City, as we don’t get those types of storms here. Many Davao City residents were very scared seeing this type of storm for the first time in their lives. Luckily, though, Davao City was spared the brunt of the storm, as it passed by about 50 miles north of us, maybe a bit more than that. We still got a good wallop, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. I am thankful for that, while still being sad for those who were harshly impacted by the storm.
As regular readers know, over the years, my family and I have done charity during Christmas here in the Philippines. With the help of the readers of this website, we have supplied food, toys and other goodies to the poor people in this part of the world, and we have been pretty successful in doing so, helping many people! I have been very proud of that effort over the years, and it has had a deep impact on my life. It is through readers like you that we have been able to extend this Christmas cheer to thousands of people, and I appreciate that greatly.
Last year was different. Instead of going around and passing out Christmas Gifts to the poor, we elected to use the donated funds to assist victims of Typhoon Sendong. We donated to the efforts in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City. My family and I missed the personal connection that we got by going from person to person in the Province and handing out gifts that made the recipient and the givers feel good, but the need for financial assistance last year was great. At this point, it is too early to know, but such financial assistance may be needed again this year. It would be my preference to go back to the Christmas gifts of food, toys and such, but I will have to see first whether assistance is needed in the way of life saving items again this year or not.
Whichever way the LiP Christmas giveaway goes in 2012, you can be assured that it will benefit thousands of people again, with your help. Without your help, the number of people that can be helped will be far fewer. But, I know the readers of this site, and I know how resourceful and helpful you all have been in the past years. Thus, even if the world economy is still waiting for a real recovery, I know that all of you will be as helpful as you can be again this year. So, it is with this information that I once again kick off our drive for funds to help the needy in Mindanao in 2012. Any donation you can extend, large or small, will be greatly appreciated by me, my family, and those who the help will go to. We can, as a joint effort, bring a lot of smiles to people who need it a lot more than we do. Whether it is providing life saving assistance (things like water, clothing and such), or if it is helping provide a Christmas meal for hundreds of families, you can be assured that your help will be met with a smile and a feeling of happiness by people who need it badly. So, if you can donate a few dollars, $25, $50 or whatever to help the cause, your help will be met with a big smile and a warm “thank you.” Just use the button on the right to donate to the cause through Paypal. If you don’t like to use Paypal, or cannot for some reason, please contact me and let me know, so that I can help you out by making other arrangements on how to send your donation. I promise you that any amount you can send would be welcomed and appreciated greatly.
So, lets all hope that Pablo will not interrupt our Christmas giving, and that his impact was only minor. But, if he was more of a “bad boy” than we hoped for, our assistance will be on the ready for his victims too. Thank you in advance for any amount that you can help out with.
Bob, I am glad you and the family are safe, I live in Delaware and recently experianced Sandy. The differnce here is people have money to rebound and buildings are built strong, in the Philippines, it is much different.
I applaud you for all that you do to give back. Next year, you should try to do a story in July to trigger the reminder about Christmas. I will be more than happy to fill up a box of goddies and ship them to help the cause. I have found that the children in Capiz have grown found of my shipments of Nutella, I am sure that the children of Davo might enjoy it too.
Hi Dirk – Thank you for your comment. I am happy to be safe as well! It’s a good thing!
If you wish to send a box, that would be great. It probably won’t be here in time for Christmas, but that’s OK, there are always people who could use the items. I would be happy to distribute the items you send! I will send you an e-mail with my address.
Thank you, also for your donation, Dirk, greatly appreciated!
Pablo was my first big storm here in the Philippines. We made it OK. Lots of trees were blown down and some of the tin roofs are now somewhere else. All in all it wasn’t all that bad…
Gary in Tagum City…
Hi Gary – Glad you weathered the storm OK! Believe it or not, I have lived in the Philippines for 13 years, and this was also my first big storm! We just don’t get those kinds of storms here, so it is quite rare!
My Granddaughter was visiting her Gran and Grandad in the Gabi, I believe they have lost their roof, and were flooded when the river broke its banks. I think there has been a lot of structural damage. She was there with her Tita and 2 cousins and great Lola. They had gone to the Fiesta seemingly.
We just hope she does not get any illness from the flood waters.
My heart goes out to everyone that was in the Typhoons path.
Keeping my fingers crossed that everybody is OK, Marjorie!
Thanks Bob
If you get any news, Marjorie, please let us know.
Obviously my first big storm here, also. We were not hit hard up in my area. Just heavy rains. The winds were not that bad either.
Let’s all hope the final damage, and fatalities of Pablo is not as bad as feared. I feel for those that must endure this on a regular basis.
Hi Randy – The thing that worries me is that at this point of the storm last year, nobody realized that CdO and Iligan had been devastated. No reports were coming from those areas, so nobody was aware of the severity of the damage. I am hearing reports similar to what came through last year, but this time along the east coast of Mindanao, in Davao Oriental and Agusan del Sur. I just hope that they were not punished as severely by Pablo as what Sendong did to Northern Mindanao a year ago.
Two words: Global Warming. This pattern of killer storms may become the norm.
United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar, is going on right now: unfccc.int/
Please, let’s avoid the topic of global warming. This is not the place for it, and it can only end badly.
Right on, Bob! 🙂
As of the moment, all indications I have found via internet, Iligan fared much better this time than they did last year after Sendong as they were more prepared and had emergency plans in effect. One report indicated that approx 6000 families were in evacuation centers. I am sure more information will become available as more people there get back on the internet after the entire city gets their electricity back on.
On a brighter note, yes, it is once again time for ” Minda-Claus ” with The Martins of Davao. Count me in Bob I’ll get something to you very soon. Glad you and your family made it through the storm ok.
Thanks for your input, Bob. Like you, I all indications are that Iligan fared much better with Pablo than it did with Sendong! I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Glad you came through the storm safe and sound. We were prepared for the worst here in Cebu, as initially it was projected to hit further north.
Have a great Christmas, and even better New Year!
Thank you Greg! Merry Christmas to you as well!
Bob,
It’s so sad and heartbreaking that it happened 2 years in a row near Christmas time. Hopefully the loss of life will not be as great this time. Feyma, You and your family should be commended because time and time again you guys jump to the forefront and help people in need. A donation from my fiance Anne and myself should be there already. I hope it is a big help. Thanks so much for all that you do for people. By the way, are you still going to do your end of the year predictions. Take care and have a great holiday season
Hi PapaDuck, firstly, thanks for your donation, it will go to a good cause.
You are so right, unbelievably sad that two such events happened two years in a row. It is looking like the death toll is much lower this year!
Bob, Our prayers to all the typhoon victims. We hope our little donation helps some of our Kababayans. God bless you and Feyma and your Family.
Hi Toti,
Thank you for your contribution! It is greatly appreciated!
My gf lives in Mangagoy – they lost the roof, one wall, all their food and many other items. The interior of the house has been ruined by the rain. Added to which, her uncle is missing.
I’m only able to send money on Tuesday (I live in China, forex is far from easy !) and they are in dire straits at the moment. I can’t get any other news, and am obviously very worried.
Does anyone know if the road from Davao to Bislig is still open ?
Hi Philip, I have not heard anything specific about that road. It was already a pretty bad road before, though, I can’t imagine how horrible it must be now!
We have just got current back today, four days without even a fan lol. The big house suffered no damage but the small one we were just building has vanished lol. The house across the road had four trees fall on it, thats bad luck. Bad flooding about half mile from us and the water started to flow the wrong way up the canal caused by the banana plantations opening their flood gates. So all in all a great week.
Glad you got your power back, John! That’s a good thing!
Hi Bob-We here in Talakag are now living in the aftermath of the recent typhoon. When Pablo struck in this part of Bukidnon it left us without power from Tuesday at 11.30am till Saturday at 5.30pm. Worse than that the bridge at Ugiaban was washed away as the rains swelled the river and that being the National Highway to Cagayan de Oro cut us off from the outside world. Fortunately the old bridge withstood the deluge and people were able to cross by foot and obtain transport to CdO by the Thursday. The old bridge has now been reopened to light vehicles since Sunday morning so the possibility to drive to CdO is now there again. However Dole and Del Monte are unable to get their produce out of Talakag and this is having an effect on their supply chain as well as peoples livelihoods. Also a lot of the fresh vegetables which supply the people of Northern Mindanao are being delayed in reaching the markets by the bridge restriction. The people in our area have had no water supply since Tuesday due to the main supply pipes being damaged by landslides. It will be later this month before the main bridge is rebuilt although it has top priority; I’m assured from local politicians. One thing though despite the troubles of the people in my neck of the woods life has gone on and anyway, it’s more fun in the Philippines.
Regards from an isolated Bukid.
Jim.
Hi Jim – I heard that Bukidnon was hit hard by Pablo, and I’m sorry to hear that. I really love Bukidnon, and it’s a shame that it took a bad hit. I hope that things continue down the road (and over the bridge) to recovery.