{"id":67291,"date":"2024-11-02T19:48:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T11:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/?p=67291"},"modified":"2025-05-23T11:06:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T03:06:41","slug":"we-cannot-fix-the-climate-crisis-with-resilience-a-reflection-on-a-life-of-typhoons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/story\/67291\/we-cannot-fix-the-climate-crisis-with-resilience-a-reflection-on-a-life-of-typhoons\/","title":{"rendered":"We cannot fix the climate crisis with resilience: A reflection on a life of typhoons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I grew up on Catanduanes, an island on the eastern part of the Philippines best known for being frequented by typhoons. This is a story borne from enduring a life of disaster.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Then: I am 10 years old and the typhoon is named Reming. Classes are suspended. Nothing unusual \u2014 we\u2019re called the \u201cland of the howling winds\u201d for a reason. My sister and I watch as my parents board up our windows with wood planks. Our doors are closed. We get the candles to prepare for lights out. The winds start to pick up. The rain is pouring. Outside, it\u2019s all white. Suddenly, my Mom shouts that one of our doors is slowly opening due to the wind. My Dad pushes our heavy dining table to keep it closed. The wind persists and all four of us end up pushing the table to make sure the door doesn\u2019t open. <\/p>\n\n

Now: I am 28 years old and I am alone in the same house I grew up in. The typhoon is named Kristine. I go to bed thinking that the typhoon is already coming to an end. Kristine isn\u2019t supposed to make a landfall on our island anyway. I make plans to walk my dog in the morning. I fall asleep at 8 PM, and wake up at 11 PM to howling winds. I check all the doors and put up all the typhoon guards that I could. Over the years, we\u2019ve reinforced our house as much as we could to make it typhoon proof: concrete roofs, concrete walls, elevated floors. But still, I feel like the wind could just seep through the cracks and blow me away. I push the dining table onto the door, just like my Dad did 18 years ago.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
An aerial photo shows flooded Triangulo in Naga City. Several towns are still submerged in water brought by Severe Tropical storm Kristine (international name: Trami) in Camarines Sur.
\u00a9 Noel Celis \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

There have been many typhoons that traumatized me and my country and we remember their names like they are people who wronged us: Loleng, Rosing, Reming, Ondoy, Yolanda, Rolly. The list goes on. We are a country known for resilience, known for rising up from disasters with smiles on our faces. We have been ravaged by winds and floods, have had our houses torn apart and our livelihoods destroyed. But the very resilience that allows us to push through disaster is a double edged sword that nowadays does more harm than good. How many more typhoons do we have to endure? How many floods? How many deaths?<\/p>\n\n

\"Aftermath
Damaged areas along the coast in Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit the area. Yolanda, which hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013 can be seen as an indication of things to come in the future if steps are not taken to prevent climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with tropical cyclones likely to become more intense and more damaging.
\u00a9 Matimtiman \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

In the midst of Kristine dumping two months worth of rain overnight,<\/a> I scrolled through social media and read hundreds of posts from people asking to be rescued from their homes. I saw friends posting about their houses being submerged in water. Farmers crying over their ruined fields. Old people being carried out of their homes and onto boats. Rescue teams unable to reach some places. In the darkness, I am filled with an overwhelming guilt because I am safe and dry while so many others are fighting to stay alive. But what else can I do but wait?<\/p>\n\n

When you grow up on an island frequented by typhoons, you learn to anticipate the movement of the wind. When you\u2019re in the eye of the storm, it is silent. When it\u2019s the tail, the wind will show its force and whip through everything on its path. It gets worse before it gets better. Kristine\u2019s worst came in the form of a long dark night of flash floods that killed hundreds<\/a> and displaced thousands<\/a> across multiple provinces.<\/p>\n\n

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A post shared by Greenpeace Philippines (@greenpeaceph)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n