TACLOBAN, Philippines – This weekend marks one year since a powerful super typhoon hit the Philippines, killing thousands. CBN News returned to the scene of the devastation to see firsthand how recovery efforts are progressing.
Charlie Cedeno was born in Tacloban City. The neighborhood he grew up in is just a few hundred feet from the Philippine coast.
CBN News was there a few days after Typhoon Haiyan hit the coastal district of Cedona. Footage from a small drone shows the massive damage the area has suffered.
Eight thousand people died on November 8, 2013. Tacloban was the worst hit, where 30,000 houses were destroyed.
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Today, many people still live in tents because they have no houses to live in.
Michael Saoy is one of about 15,000 residents living in tents or makeshift homes. In the year since the storm, the government has managed to build only 50 new houses.
“It’s still very difficult and not much has changed,” Saoy told CBN News. “I am looking for ways to overcome the current situation, but the government is moving too slowly.”
Cedona is one of the happiest people because he has a new home. CBN Disaster Relief he built temporary houses for 1550 families including himself.
When a typhoon destroyed the company where he worked, he was hired by CBN Disaster Relief.
“I’m so happy because they gave us a house and gave me a job. I’m proud to be part of an organization that really helps people,” Cedona said.
About 16,000 businesses were operating in Tacloban before Typhoon Haiyan. Today, about 7,000 of them are back in business.
One of those businesses is Calle Z Café, owned and operated by Jerry Ruiz.
The restaurant suffered major damage from the storm, but two weeks after the typhoon hit, Ruiz decided to send a message to his city by opening up shop.
“We tried to lead by example, we tried to get everybody’s morale up to get things back to normal,” he told CBNNews.
Michael Dacatimbang will join neighbors and friends to remember that fateful day this Saturday, which marks the one-year anniversary of the typhoon’s attack.
Dacatimbang lost his mother in a typhoon and today she is buried in a mass grave along with 3,000 others.
“It’s very painful to know she’s here, but I can’t mourn forever,” he said. “I have to try to keep going in the middle of this storm.
Before Saturday, the city authorities put the final names of the deceased on the crosses.
“The difficult thing is that you’re burying people, and it weighs on our hearts, but it’s our duty to create a sacred place where people can come and remember,” said Tacloban City official Antonio Valderrama.
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