Janet…Saved by a Table…

 


Janet…Saved by a Table…

Narrated by Teodoro Verde

My name is Teodoro Verde, but everybody knows me as “Toto” or simply “Pastor Toto”.

I was 7 years old when I witnessed the worst hurricane of my life; Hurricane Janet. I was living along with my parents and two other siblings in a tiny thatch roof house about 5 blocks away from the sea.

That morning we received some news that caught us off guard. A very strong storm was heading straight towards us. Despite that dreadful news, my father was confident that our thatch roof was strong enough to withstand a storm like Janet. He believed that there was no need to join the rest of the villagers at the community shelter.

Even though my father was convinced of the house’s sturdiness, he still went on and secured the house with a few planks of wood and nails. Later that evening, the clouds made their appearance, and rain commenced falling gradually increasing to a heavy thunder shower, accompanied by gusty winds which lasted for several hours. Seeing this, mom became concerned and placed the little food we had in buckets, just in case we had flooding. The winds and the rains continued non-stop for several hours.

It rained and poured with a great force that water began to leak in through the many openings of our plastered walls. The gusty winds slowly began quivering our thatch roof as if it wanted to pull it away. We were scared; we even made plans to run to the shelter if anything happened. We sat down, thunderstruck on our beds watching at each other hoping the storm slows down.

The gusty winds gradually began tearing our roof apart. We all ran under the table to protect ourselves from falling debris. The winds made their grand entrance through the roof turning off our only source of light. The warm cozy home turned into a dark stormy room. We were without a roof! In no time, our walls were also thrown away like pieces of cardboard. We became homeless without a roof or walls to protect us from the stormy night. All we had was a table and a plastic table cloth.

We were paralyzed, the gusty winds were so intense that it was practically impossible to stand or walk. Our only option was to stay where we were. We were all in shock, frighten and we didn’t know what to do. Janet was definitely stronger than a regular cold front. My father was regretful for not taking us to the shelter. Mom covered us with the table cloth to protect us from the rain. My brothers and I were now on top of the table while my parents stood on the sides.

 

A little after that shocking incident, the water began to rise. It was evident that sea water was now 5 blocks away from the beach and now it reaching up to our knees. The winds were so extreme; we struggled to hold on to the table cloth.  My parents wrestled against the waves and winds trying to hold on to the table where we were. The storm surge was now covering the table, leaving us on a very uncomfortable situation.  Mom told us to pray, and so we did. Thankfully the water didn’t go higher that night. 

After several hours of intense rains and winds, the night finally came to a halt. The sea water gradually began to recede, the winds stopped as well as if the storm was over. It was too dark to wander about so we decided to stay where we were; not knowing that we were in the eye of the hurricane. In no time, the winds began to blow again. More powerful than ever before; this was when we knew that we were once again trapped in the storm. Our opportunity to find a shelter was over. We had to stay in that same location but thank God we made it through the rest of the night.

The following day, we found out that our community was completely destroyed to the ground. Not one house was left standing upright. Some houses had been washed away by the storm and others were on the verge of falling down. Thank God the only building that was not affected was the community shelter, where most of the villagers found refuge. There was no portable water in the community for about 2 weeks or so. Despite all the efforts, the villagers made to ensure the safety of their children, unfortunately, two babies died that night. Janet was the worst hurricane and I hope it stays the worst. 

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