Surviving a Typhoon: 'There was no warning'
The Franciscan friars of the Province of St. John the Baptist have been serving the people of the Philippines for over 60 years. Fr. Dan Kroger, OFM, remembers typhoons from his many years in the Philippines.
Fr. Dan Kroger, OFM (right) in the Philippines with lay missionary in 1982.
Super-typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Also called Yolanda, the storm made first landfall on the small coastal island of Guiuan Samar. Then storm moved northwestward, ravaging Leyte, Biliran, Cebu, Negros, and Panay islands. The first news reminded me of the storms that I witnessed during my years in the Philippines; however, the storms I experienced were not as strong as Yolanda.
My first typhoon was weak by comparison. At the time I was assigned on Maripipi Island, a small island north of Leyte and Biliran Islands. I was sleeping when the storm started blowing the rain through the windows and woke me up. There was no warning since there was no radio or TV then.
The first words that came to mind were from the Canticle in the book of Daniel (3:65). “All you winds, bless the Lord. Praise and exalt him above all forever.”
Since the church and the parish house were right at the sea, the house was washed by the spray from the waves hitting the sea wall just outside the church and the house. Since Maripipi had no electric power, Fr. Carl Kemphues and I lit a kerosene lantern and placed some old bed sheets over the jalousie windows trying to minimize the amount of salt spray coming into the house. We were only on the edge of the storm’s path, so we did not suffer much damage.
Storms I witnessed on Biliran and Leyte islands were far more destructive. They broke windows and knocked down trees and houses.
Fr. Dan Kroger, OFM, today
They wiped out whole villages and took many lives. When I was in Manila, typhoons flooded half the city. People living along rivers and the bay had to move to higher ground to save their lives. Manila’s streets turned into rivers. That happened when I was in Manila in August 2012 for the fiftieth anniversary of our Franciscan Seminary. “All you winds, bless the Lord.”
--- Fr. Dan
Fr. Dan Kroger, OFM, is currently the CEO of Franciscan Media (formerly known at St. Anthony Messenger) in Cincinnati, Ohio.
By the grace of God, our missionaries in the Philippines survived Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most devastating storms in history.
But tens of thousands lost everything they own – and in many cases, everyone they love. Just as they have since 1956, our Franciscan friars will be working to support and sustain those who are most in need.
With your help and their efforts, we can give the people of the Philippines a reason to hope, and the means to rebuild. Please donate whatever you can to our relief efforts. Please remember to select “Philippines” on the drop down when asked how you would like your gift used.
Posted in: Missions, News, Prayer, Saint Anthony
