This is a barangay called Anibong in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines. Before super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), this area was crowded with small houses made of either wood or cement with galvanized tin roofing. The houses were built on stilts over the water between cement walls that had been constructed out over the water from shore. These cement walls – a type of seawall or pier construction – served as sidewalks running between and among the houses. Many houses were built out in the center of the water and you had to walk along narrow wooden planks to reach them. It was a thriving community of thousands of people.

On November 8, 2013, super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) essentially wiped the community off the face of the earth. The combination of the wind and the storm surge totally destroyed nearly all of the houses. Only two or three lucky cement structures remained standing. I shot this video on December 7, almost exactly a month after the typhoon. All of the wooden structures you see in this video have been rebuilt since the typhoon.  Immediately after the typhoon, there was nothing here but a vast field of debris. The houses had been reduced to bits of wood and cement in huge piles.

Hang in there with the video until about 1 minute and 25 seconds if you want to get a wave from a soapy, smiling baby.

Also note the number of water sources I came across as I walked around. These water sources are a key part of the recovery of Tacloban in my opinion. People could move back in and clean up and begin to rebuild quickly partially because Tacloban has so many sources of water like these and they still functioned after the typhoon. People remembered where the pipes and the wells were located, and the first thing they did was clear away the debris to get access to the water.

 

Tags: barangay, Philippines Bike Trip 2013, Super Typhoon Yolanda, Tacloban, typhoon