Typhoon wreaks havoc in the Philippines

Well, we've been watching and waiting, and finally last night at about 1:00 a.m. we were able to contact family in the Philippines. That little house we spent the last few years building was completely destroyed, but everyone is OK. It's been hard to make contact because the first big storm to hit the area several months ago knocked out power throughout the province. That limits every body's ability to recharge cell phones, and makes it hard for us here to be able to contact them.
We spoke a few days ago with Cherrie's brother living in Manila, and he was on his way out to Manito (the little town where Cherrie's parents live) to see if they were OK. He was especially concerned, as he had left his young daughter (about Kianna's age) with them to babysit for a while. So yesterday he finally made it down there, and we were able to talk to everyone (he brought a fully-charged cell phone with him). During the storm, the wind blew out every window, and then ripped the door off it's hinges before tearing off the entire roof and causing the joists to collapse. Cherrie's Parents and her niece took refuge under the kitchen counter and sink and waited out the storm.
We actually fared much better than many. One of our good friend here in Salt Lake has her whole family living in the same area. They were unfortunate enough to be living right at the base of the Mayon volcano. Luckily, someone in the family noticed the approaching torrent, and the entire family was able to climb to safety as the mudslides completely buried their home. It appears that they, like many other thousands, lost everything but the clothes on their backs.
Cherrie's dad says he plans to rebuild everything. We are grateful that they had a good little cinder block home, because at least all four walls are still standing. The next-door neighbor had a house made of traditional bamboo with a thatched roof, and nothing is left.
So now we are going to try to help them purchase some materials to at least repair the roof so that they can be out of the rain. It might be hard though, as the whole area is affected and I am sure that there will be significant shortages of building materials, not to mention the difficulties in transportation.


KIRK