short essay about typhoon experience brainly

• Get Involved

A Typhoon Odette Survivor’s Story: Rebecca from Negros Oriental

Stories from the survivors of the recent Typhoon Odette are coming in. Typhoon Odette, 2021’s strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines, cut a swath of destruction across the provinces where ICM has been holding Transform programs among ultra-poor communities. Too many of our communities are now suffering in the aftermath of the typhoon, including our own staff. Power in most areas is still down and communication lines are just being built back up, and stories from survivors are starting to come in. 

Rebecca and her family were among the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who were greatly affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in Negros Oriental last December. Although her story has been translated, Rebecca’s own words describe what she and her family experienced when the typhoon hit.

“We had the most traumatic experience on December 16 when Typhoon Odette entered the country and left massive damage in many places, including my hometown.

We first heard the howling wind blowing off our roof at around 9:00 in the evening. Since we live in a nipa hut over the water, we could feel the whole house shaking. My husband tried to tie up our home to keep it from breaking down. The seawater eventually entered our house and left holes in our bamboo floor.

It was around 10 PM when we felt our house shaking again. We were shocked to see our bedroom walls starting to come down on us! Our neighbor let us into his house for safety. My family and I helplessly watched as the waves carried away what was left of our bedroom.

We had nothing with us. My family and I were holding each other’s hands, and while our youngest daughter was crying, I tried to encourage them and tell them to pray.

We’ve been living here at Sitio Batugan, Barangay Biñohon, for 15 years now, but this was the first time we encountered such a devastating experience.

I’m thankful that we were able to retrieve some clothes that were carried away by the waves, but most of all I am grateful that my whole family is alive and well. I realized how blessed we are. We can always rebuild our house and everything that was damaged, but our lives are irreplaceable.”

Send help to Rebecca and other families recovering from the aftermath of Typhoon Odette. Donate to ICM’s relief efforts here. 

Read similar posts

• Savings group builds climate resilience for ultra-poor families Butuan
• Sustaining health, sustaining hope Health
• A mother’s sustainable future Livelihood
• Turning Life Around Livelihood
• A Transformed Mother Is a Transformed Family Disaster
• Ready to Start Anew Disaster

Recent Posts

• Family Academy in Uganda starts now!
• Savings group builds climate resilience for ultra-poor families
• Ultra-poverty and Hunger
• He dreams of becoming a soldier, she a teacher. They walk two hours to school each day hoping to reach their dreams.
• What started out with 16 members each contributing $0.18 cents weekly, has grown to 70 members with investments of over $5,000.
• January 2024

Oops! Your cart is empty

A wake up call: One typhoon survivor's story

25-year-old Joanna Sustento is from the city of Tacloban, Philippines. She is a Typhoon Haiyan survivor and is trying to make sense of the tragedy after she and her eldest brother lost their whole family to the storm. Joanna sought comfort and found a tool to heal through writing. It is through her stories that she aims to empower her community and hopefully the whole world, to resist and work for a future that will no longer fear or be threatened by the adverse impacts of climate change. This important message was directed to world leaders at the Bonn Climate Change Conference 2017 to take climate action  #foreverychild .

[Transcript]

It was 5 o’ clock on a Friday morning of November 8, 2013, when my family was awakened by the unnerving wailing of the ferocious winds. We thought it was just another normal stormy day, so we sat together on the dining table and had breakfast. As the wind and rain got stronger, we felt the house vibrate and tremble because of the pressure. When we looked outside, trees were already uprooted; our concrete walls were destroyed, windows cracked and all of a sudden murky waters came rushing in. In just a matter of seconds, the water rose to knee level. I rushed to my room to get my backpack filled with my stuff- it didn’t even take me 3 minutes to do that- but as I went out of my room, the water was already up to my chest. We had no other choice but to go out of the house or else we will be trapped inside. Due to the strong current rushing in, I had a hard time getting out of the house but my mom pulled me out.

As the water was rising, we struggled more to stay afloat, and it became more difficult to stay together. My elder brother- the one who survived- was the first one who got separated from us. He tried to swim for the floating ice box, so we could put my nephew inside but we failed to do that. I saw my sister-in-law drifting away from us while she held on to a tree branch. Then, I saw my nephew with a lifejacket on- floating behind his mom. I saw his father- my eldest brother swim to their direction. But everything was so hazy- I couldn’t see well because of the strong wind and rain, and it was as if crushed ice were being thrown at my face. My parents were the ones close in proximity, thus we held on to a log. At that point, I could see the worry in their eyes that they were trying to hide. I never expected that the last memory I would have with my father would be in the monstrous floods of Haiyan. I saw him trying to surface the waters, gasping for air- three times- and that was it, I never saw him again after that. Then, I saw a refrigerator floating, so I held onto it and let my mom hold it as well. We found ourselves at the building near the back of our house. The waves were crashing onto the refrigerator we were holding that I was being pushed under the steel trusses, I was afraid to be trapped so I pushed the refrigerator away and held onto a log instead; that was the time my mom and I got separated.

Striving to surface the water as piles of debris were blocking my head, I felt like I was being spun inside a washing machine. I could not breathe and I seriously thought I was going to die. Not knowing what to do, I told myself if that was the day I was going to my watery grave, then so be it. Never in my life have I talked to God with deep remorse and in complete surrender. However, death decided to “postpone”, I was given another chance to live. Using my head I pushed the debris away until I was able to surface. As soon as I saw my mother, I immediately drifted towards her, grabbed her arms and tried to lift half of her body so she could hold on to the wood I was using to stay afloat. But when my hands slipped from her arms to her fingers, her body splashed into the water and there was no sign of her struggling to survive.

My mom was gone.

I found myself being swept away by the 15 ft. high storm surge to the steel frames of a water tank, as my mother died in my arms. Then, I was forced to face a question I never thought I could ask myself in this lifetime- should I continue to hold on to my mom’s lifeless body and die with her? Or should I let her go and save myself?

I could not even begin to describe the agony, the desperation, the guilt, and the chaos running through my mind because I was torn between saving what’s left of my family and holding on for my dear life. But at the back of my mind, something told me that there must be a reason why I was able to survive the storm and no matter how insurmountable it may seem, I want to find out what that reason is.

Thus, with all the love that I had- I asked for my mom`s forgiveness for everything I did that hurt her. I thanked her being the strong woman that she is, and for everything she has done for our family. I told her I love her again and again, I embraced and kissed her for the last time.

And that was it- I let her go and I never looked back...

It was indeed an unbearable dilemma- to this day, I still ask myself if I had made the right choice or if I could have done something more because living without my family just did not make sense. More than thousands of people lost their homes, livelihood and properties. Most of all, Haiyan displaced millions and claimed thousands of lives- five of those are my parents, my eldest brother, my sister-in-law and my three-year old nephew. We never found our father and our nephew.

The horror brought about by Haiyan bred by the warming waters of the Pacific, did not stop there. Different alarming stories spread like wildfire causing unexplainable fear and paranoia. Access to medication and basic necessities such as food, water and shelter went scarce, and the dramatic soap-opera unfolding brought to us by our government and their political alliances and clan wars added salt to the wounds- leaving everyone- especially children- in jeopardy.

Every day since the onslaught, we were in a place we called home but we looked around, and tried to find the city that once was, and by the end of the day we come to terms with the heart-breaking reality that it’s no longer the same- and it never will be.

Here in the Philippines- as in any other country vulnerable to climate change impacts- when disasters happen, it is children who are at risk the most. They suffer a deep trauma from going through an experience they do not understand. Imagine a child who is looking forward to get an education only to find out his school is damaged and he cannot study anymore. Imagine a child who has no access to food, health and medical security because his parents` livelihood has been torn apart. Imagine a child who has nowhere to go because his home has been washed away. Imagine a child who used to love the ocean but he cannot even bear to look at it anymore because it is the same waters that took his family away from him. Imagine a child who no longer dreams for a future because he finds no reason to make something out of himself. Imagine a child who receives no financial and emotional support- a child who has been left with no choice but to fend for himself. Imagine a child who has no family to hold on to- a family that would shower him with love and care. Imagine a child- especially young girls- going all through the direct impacts of climate change and is forced to deal with another nightmare- as she is sold in exchange for food and other scarce supplies, exploited into forced labour with a promise of a good job or a scholarship in exchange for sex. Imagine it all because this is the reality that we live in- not only here in the Philippines but in other parts of the world.

While it is said that the children are our future, let us ask ourselves if our present actions and decisions address the current problems and threats children are facing today. Because if these are given ample significance, we will be able to give justice to our children and create a future that is worthy to look forward to- a future that will not deprive them of the wonderful things we enjoy today, a future that is not filled with experiences of running away from storms, a future growing up with family and friends filled with love, a future so bright and far from calamities that they would not be afraid to dream again, a future where they could play and practice their advocacies, a future where health, safety and education are consistent and within reach, a future where food security is abundant, a future where our children enjoy and value their basic right to a safe, clean and healthy environment. The drastic change will not happen immediately. It would take several years and some would say that this ambition is a long shot- a shoot to the moon- even almost impossible- but I know that I could never forgive myself if I do nothing because I have already seen and experienced the worst- so far. The wrath of Super Typhoon Haiyan is an example of what`s to come- and this is an  absolute injustice that should not be passed on to our children and future generations .

View the discussion thread.

Related Stories

Guarding Our Communities: The Imperative of Immunization

Let Us Keep It Clean!

MISS-UNDERSTOOD

Words for my fellow human beings

C 2019 Voices of Youth. All Rights Reserved. 

Essay on Typhoon for Students and Children in English

Essay on typhoon.

A typhoon is a tropical storm associated with an area of extremely low temperature. It builds up over warm seas and feeds on the energy and moisture from water that evaporates from the surface. Once a wind in a depression gathers speed and reaches 120 kilometer per hour (75 miles per hour) it develops in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean between 180° and 100°E. It is a sophisticated Tropical Cyclone. It is characterized by a deep strain center, violent rain bands and vigorous winds. It commences over tropical or subtropical waters and whirls clockwise in the southern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere. The tropical cyclones moving into the western Pacific re-designated as typhoons.

Identical phenomena of Typhoon in the eastern north Pacific are called hurricanes. Hurricanes are giant, twisted tropical storms that can load wind speeds of over 160 miles (257 kilometers) an hour and release more than 2.4 trillion gallons (9 trillion liters) of rain a day.

Please enable JavaScript

Typhoons and Hurricanes are the same kinds of tropical storm. The tropical storm which came in Western Pacific or Indian Oceans is known as “Typhoon” although the tropical storm which came in Atlantic Ocean is “Hurricane”.

Short Essay on Torna does

The winds of tornadoes usually spin at about 500 kilometer (300 miles) per hour. Tornadoes zip along at speeds of up to 100 kilometer (60 miles) per hour. Although, they generally last less than an hour, tornadoes can cause a lot of damage.

Discover more from Smart English Notes

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region..

• Annual Reports
• Policies and Strategies

ORGANIZATION

• Board of Governors
• Board of Directors
• Departments and Country Offices

ACCOUNTABILITY

• Access to Information
• Accountability Mechanism
• ADB and Civil Society
• Anticorruption and Integrity
• Development Effectiveness
• Independent Evaluation
• Administrative Tribunal
• Ethics and Conduct
• Ombudsperson

Strategy 2030: Operational Priorities

Annual meetings, adb supports projects in developing member countries that create economic and development impact, delivered through both public and private sector operations, advisory services, and knowledge support..

ABOUT ADB PROJECTS

• Projects & Tenders
• Project Results and Case Studies

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

• Public Sector Financing
• Private Sector Financing
• Financing Partnerships
• Funds and Resources
• Economic Forecasts
• Publications and Documents
• Data and Statistics
• Asia Pacific Tax Hub
• Development Asia
• ADB Data Library
• Agriculture and Food Security
• Climate Change
• Digital Technology
• Environment
• Finance Sector
• Fragility and Vulnerability
• Gender Equality
• Markets Development and Public-Private Partnerships
• Regional Cooperation
• Social Development
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Urban Development

REGIONAL OFFICES

• European Representative Office
• Japanese Representative Office | 日本語
• North America Representative Office

LIAISON OFFICES

• Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office
• Pacific Subregional Office
• Singapore Office

SUBREGIONAL PROGRAMS

• Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)
• Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program
• Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Program
• Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT)
• South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)

With employees from more than 60 countries, ADB is a place of real diversity.

Work with us to find fulfillment in sharing your knowledge and skills, and be a part of our vision in achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable asia and the pacific., careers and scholarships.

• What We Look For
• Career Opportunities
• Young Professionals Program
• Visiting Fellow Program
• Internship Program
• Scholarship Program

FOR INVESTORS

• Investor Relations | 日本語
• ADB Green and Blue Bonds
• ADB Theme Bonds

INFORMATION ON WORKING WITH ADB FOR...

• Consultants
• Contractors and Suppliers
• Governments
• Executing and Implementing Agencies
• Development Institutions
• Private Sector Partners
• Civil Society/Non-government Organizations

PROCUREMENT AND OUTREACH

• Operational Procurement
• Institutional Procurement
• Business Opportunities Outreach

Typhoon Haiyan: A Tale of Relief and Recovery

Photo essay | 08 november 2018, share this page.

Five years after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Central Philippines, the country is now ready to move on from a phase of emergency and recovery to building back better much-needed infrastructure and services.

See the photo story

• ADB's Focus on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management
• More on ADB's work in the Philippines

Latest Photo Essays

Tajikistan is among the countries with a very high exposure to climate and disaster risks. Around 400 climate-induced incidents (such as avalanches, mudflows, landslides, and flash floods) happen yearly in the country, severely affecting people and the economy. Students of an art school in Tajikistan painted images of the impacts of climate change they’d witnessed in August 2023.

An ADB-assisted $20 million COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Project improved the longer-term capacity of the Kyrgyz Republic’s health system. With ADB support, the Kyrgyz Republic has upgraded 18 hospitals nationwide by expanding and equipping their intensive care units. The project helped procure medical and personal protection equipment, finance minor rehabilitation, and support salary top-ups and other eligible expenses. The project also improved government resilience to future health pandemics and disasters.

ADB provides steadfast assistance in improving key road corridors and livelihoods in southern Tajikistan. The assistance includes training activities for empowering the economic capacity of women living near the project roads using a mobile app. Such a comprehensive approach is expected to demonstrate the synergetic effects and eventually contribute to strengthening the region's economic platform.

Essay on Typhoon Preparedness

Students are often asked to write an essay on Typhoon Preparedness in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Typhoon Preparedness

Understanding typhoons.

Typhoons are big storms that form over warm ocean waters. They bring strong winds, heavy rain, and can cause flooding. Knowing about them helps us prepare better.

Getting Ready at Home

To prepare, families should have an emergency kit. This kit includes water, food, a flashlight, and a first aid kit. It’s also good to have a plan on where to meet if you get separated.

Listening to Warnings

When a typhoon is coming, listening to the news is important. They tell us how strong the typhoon is and if we need to go to a safer place.

Staying Safe

During a typhoon, stay inside and away from windows. After the storm, be careful of flooded areas and broken power lines. Always help others if you can.

250 Words Essay on Typhoon Preparedness

Getting ready before the typhoon.

Before a typhoon arrives, it’s important to make sure your home is safe. Fix any broken windows or doors. Also, have a bag ready with things you might need, like food, water, a flashlight, and a first-aid kit. Listening to the news is a good way to stay updated about the typhoon.

During the Typhoon

When the typhoon is happening, stay inside and away from windows to keep safe from the strong winds. If you are told to move to a safer place, go there with your family. Always follow what the grown-ups or safety officials say.

After the Typhoon

After the typhoon passes, be careful because there might still be dangers like flooded roads or broken power lines. Help your family check your house for any damage. Remember, it’s important to stay calm and help each other.

Being prepared for a typhoon means knowing what it is, getting ready before it comes, staying safe during it, and being careful after it’s gone. By following these steps, you and your family can stay safe during a typhoon.

500 Words Essay on Typhoon Preparedness

Typhoons are big storms that form over warm ocean water. They can bring very strong winds, heavy rain, and cause flooding. Just like we prepare for a test in school by studying, it’s important to get ready for a typhoon before it arrives. This can help keep you and your family safe.

Getting Information

Making a plan.

Once you know a typhoon might be coming, it’s time to make a plan with your family. Decide where you will all meet if you are not together when the typhoon hits. Choose a safe place in your house where you can stay during the storm. This place should be away from windows to avoid broken glass from strong winds.

Preparing a Kit

It’s a good idea to have a typhoon kit ready. This kit should have things you might need during and after the typhoon. Some important things to include are water, food that doesn’t go bad quickly, a flashlight with extra batteries, a first-aid kit, and important papers like your family’s identification. Don’t forget to add some clothes and blankets too.

Protecting Your Home

Staying safe during a typhoon.

When the typhoon is happening, stay inside and away from windows. Keep listening to the news so you know what’s happening with the typhoon. Sometimes, the middle part of the typhoon, called the eye, can be very calm. But don’t go outside because the strong winds will start again.

After the typhoon has passed, be careful when you go outside. There might be broken things like glass or fallen trees. If you have to walk in water, wear boots because the water could be dirty or have sharp things in it. Listen to the news to find out if it’s safe to use drinking water or if there are any places you should not go.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.