4th of December 2012 - a category 5 super typhoon paid the city of gentle people an unwelcome visit to remember. It took several days of planning and preparing for the city and surrounding islands as the typhoon was anticipated to be more dreadful than Sendong and what it had in store for us the same month last year.
A day before the typhoon hit Dumaguete, the weather was typical - sunny, cloudy and ordinary. As such, people would tend not to take the weather agency's warning of an upcoming super typhoon seriously - at least not for me. As forecasted, Pablo (typhoon Bopha) made landfall in the Philippines with Mindanao area and parts of Leyte as the first in line to taste Pablo's wickedness. The day started pretty normal with little to no rainfall in Dumaguete but as the day progressed, the dark clouds upcoming were evident. Not so long after, rainfall began to pour as if tomorrow never existed. Nothing much was up until afternoon came and Pablo started to unveil his real identity. Heavy rain accompanied with winds stronger than ever in about a decade was how Pablo wanted the people to regard him of. Then, the rest became a significant part of the city's history...
There's no denying that Dumaguete City isn't used to typhoons at all but that never had anything to do with it being spared from natural calamities as such. In fact, last year's typhoon Sendong left casualties not only in the city but the entire province of Negros Oriental as well. This year's typhoon Pablo brought about massive destruction which left the city with not much options but to move on, regardless of situation.
Devastating, terrifying and traumatizing are only among the few words to describe how super typhoon Pablo was but despite that, no life was taken away. Just recently, the city government of Dumaguete declared zero-casuality after the said typhoon.
After all that happened, regardless of the extent of damage, Dumagueteños will still have a reason to call the season merry. After all, Christmas was never really central about material possessions. Perhaps, the best gifts won't come wrapped in nice packages this Yuletide. Remember, no material thing can be as precious as a loved one.
