Mawar Madness Part II

With no power and no aircon, taking a drive allowed for a bit of a relief.

The roof at Aaron's office leaked, flooding the floors. The water needed to be extracted but with no fuel for the generator, there was no power to run the equipment. This led to mildew and mold. The following week GHD rented space at Hilton (below) and his team continued working. About a week and a half after the storm they were able to move back into their office space.

Business signs, metal roofing and siding were carried off on the wind all over the island.

The lines for gas were long. There was no shortage. People were just panicking. In the last major typhoon, a fuel storage tank caught fire and resulted in a shortage.

None of the lights were working. 

We were thankful for the National Guard. They took shifts directing traffic.

Our mobile service was weak which made communication difficult. Aaron was looking for a descent signal.

Tumon was hit hard but since it's our tourist area, it was cleaned up quickly.

The water ran down the road like a river carrying debris in it's wake.

Trees were knocked on their heads.

We found an oasis at GHD when the fuel was restored and the generator was running.

Angelica reached out via jw.org a few days before the typhoon. She wanted to study the Bible. After the storm, we found a restaurant that was doing takeout and brought it back to our house so that we could get to know her. She's a travel nurse. She'll be here for a few years working at the hospital. She started attending meetings with us as soon as we were able to go back to the Kingdom Hall.

Our balcony was our living room. Most evenings we were blessed with a breeze.

Aaron was asked to serve on the Disaster Relief Committee. We went out to check on some of the friends and see the damage to their homes.

I know! It's blurry but that's how I saw it. My second sunrise EVER. With no relief from the heat and the doors and windows open, my eyes opened when the sun came up.

For weeks, our relief came from going to restaurants with generators. Food, friends and aircon!

Rare siting of the power company working in the field.

A delicious "homecooked" Japanese meal

This crab came to GHD to work. He climbed to the second floor and walked right in.

This is laundry with no power. Hang dry.

A funny thing that was going around but this was reality for a lot of people.

One of the fanciest pasta dishes I've ever collaborated on with canned meat.

Beautiful sky on another toasty evening.

What happens when things get wet and never dry out. Moldy bamboo rug. I was able to clean it up.

Debris near the post office…

…which later became a dump site for green waste and every other kind of scrap.

The most beautiful site to see after 16 days of no power!

It was early morning. We were still in bed. The truck was beeping. I was annoyed…until I saw this beautiful man! I wanted to jump from my balcony and hug him. That, my friends, is complete joy!

Damage on the waterfront.

It was a crazy storm. Aaron and I learned a lot—for next time. The island continues to recover. It amazes us how resilient the people are AND the jungle…well it's hard to hold back! It recovered in no time at all! If we never have one again, I'll be happy! But at least we know better what we'll face.