As he watched his daughter Katsy being interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN, 56-year-old businessman Peter Borromeo tried to connect the pieces of his harrowing encounter with super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name Haiyan).
He thought “Yolanda” was one of those fleeting typhoons that hit the country annually, so he didn’t think twice about flying to Tacloban City on a cold Thursday morning to attend to business.
After a futile search to book a room in the city’s hotels, Borromeo settled for a two-storey pension house near the airport. He rested, with nary a thought about the typhoon that was heading to the city.
Borromeo said he was awakened by the sound of howling, hissing winds and gusty rain at 6 a.m. last Friday. He thought it wouldn’t get worse but the winds and rain only worsened.
Borromeo recalled glass being broken in windows, slamming doors open, walls being shattered and roofs being blown off. The ceiling in his room finally gave way and while Borromeo avoided being crushed by the debris, the downpour drenched him to the skin and the winds pounded his face.
“I went near a post and clung to it for dear life. The winds were so strong. Either you would die by being blown away and hitting your head hard on the concrete or you would die by drowning or being dragged away by the current,” Borromeo said.
He prayed fervently while clinging on to the post and hoped the typhoon ends its “assault.” Four hours later, the rain and winds eased up long enough for Borromeo to see for himself what “Yolanda” did to the city.
Like ‘Katrina’
Borromeo and the guests went out of the pension house and were horrified by what they saw. “Everything was destroyed. The parked cars and houses were already on the beach. The whole thing reminded me of Hurricane Katrina,” he said.
Carrying a small hand bag containing important documents, a few T-shirts, and his wallet, Borromeo made his way through the ruined streets of San Jose, Tacloban, hoping to see a policeman or a local official.
“Nobody could help because everyone was affected,” Borromeo said. He and three pension house guests walked six kilometers to the city, hoping to find refuge amid the rubble.
Borromeo saw even more scenes of destruction. Pools of water, fallen trees and broken electric posts were everywhere. Worse, he saw people soaked to the skin, running around looking for loved ones.
Buildings and houses lie flattened on the ground. Everwhere he looked, Borromeo saw desolation. A few hours passed and Borromeo saw the only place that looked to be secure enough to serve as a shelter, the Redemptorist Church.
Heartbreaking
It wasn’t too long when the Church filled up with people, turning into an improvised evacuation center. “It was thousands of people from all walks of life, there were crying babies everywhere. It was a humbling experience,” Borromeo said.
He said it was heartbreaking to watch them all squeeze inside the narrowing confines of the church and it was only the looks of relief and gratitude that kept him strong.
Borromeo even witnessed a woman give birth inside the church. “There was a military doctor walking around with a medical kit. Another woman also volunteered to help,” he said.
Since the hospital across the church was heavily damaged, the only available equipment were stretchers. Borromeo said he had to conserve his one bottle of water to make sure it lasted the day.
When the church got crowded, Borromeo had to leave anew to find shelter.
“Along the way, I passed by the Coca-Cola plant, and they were giving away everything. Cans and bottles of their beverages were being handed out,” he said.
Long lines
Borromeo received two bottles of water and one energy drink and he took short sips to keep up his strength. He finally came across a three-storey commercial house owned by his family’s friends.
“I was invited in and I was offered a meal. I ate dinner and breakfast there Since there was no electricity, they cooked using LPG. It was also there that I was able to take a bth and realize that I had cuts on my foot, probably from walking,” he said.
A night’s sleep later and Borromeo woke up at 8 a.m. Monday to book a flight at the Tacloban City airport. By then the rain-soaked runway was cleared of trees and poles. He saw two long lines at the Philippine Airlines (PAL) booth.
“A line for people with existing tickets which they would just rebook, and a line for people who were yet to purchase tickets. There were about 400 people who fell in line so they could get their priority numbers, and I was 144th,” he said.
The earliest flight Borromeo booked was scheduled on Tuesday which forced him and hundreds of others to sleep inside the airport. “Even the people from PAL who set up the booth spent the night there,” he said.
Alive
Borromeo arrived in Cebu at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday with no communication with his family during his three-day ordeal.
CNN was able to track Borromeo’s US-based daughter Marielle Borromeo through her Facebook account. In her page, Marielle said she was worried about her dad’s disappearance.
Marielle declined to be interviewed and let her younger sister Katsy tell CNN talk show host Anderson Cooper via video patch about their missing father.
When CNN found out that Borromeo already returned to Cebu, they tried to reach him for an interview but he declined. Katsy thanked CNN for locating him.
“In the end it’s not going to matter if you’ve lost all your things. What matters is you’re alive. I never heard anybody blame God there. God has a purpose for everything,” a grateful Borromeo said.