“We are used to strong typhoons, but nothing could have prepared us for this.”

Lerma, 37, and her husband lived a modest life near the coast of Calayan Island in the Philippines before they were struck by Typhoon Ragasa. Lerma’s husband, a fisher, could only go out to sea a few times a week, depending on the weather. To support their child’s education, Lerma worked as a household helper.

“We didn’t have much,” she shares, “but we ate three times a day and had a home that gave us comfort and security. That was enough.” 

When news spread that a typhoon was approaching, the community carried out a pre-emptive evacuation. 

“We are used to strong typhoons because we experience them often,” Lerma says. “But nothing could have prepared us for this.”

Broken bricks

When she returned the day after the typhoon struck, the home that once gave her family comfort was gone.

“All that was left were broken bricks,” she recalls. “I could only cry. I never imagined I would experience something so disheartening. I can endure not having money for food, but having no home to sleep in was deeply degrading. When it rains, you can’t help but feel helpless watching your child shiver from the cold.”

Neighbours rush to help

The situation worsened when the fishing boat her husband relied on for their livelihood was also destroyed. 

“I can’t fully describe how helpless we felt,” Lerma says. “If not for our community, we would not have survived. Our neighbours gave us food to eat and clothes to wear.”

With nowhere else to go, the family lived in a makeshift tent made from donated tarpaulins. Neighbors shared what little they had - food, clothes, and kindness. 

“We still ate three times a day, but our meals were reduced to whatever leaves we could gather. There were no meat or fish. For breakfast, we were content with coffee and boiled bananas - or just hot water if there was no coffee to mix.”

A rainbow after the rain 

After everything Lerma endured, receiving financial assistance from HI brought renewed hope. 

“I thought we’d be celebrating Christmas living in a tent,” she says. “I will use this to buy materials to repair our shelter, soap so I can finally wash our soiled clothes, and school supplies for my child, who also lost most of her belongings.”

The assistance in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Ragasa was funded by the Start Network, a global partnership between 134 international, national and local NGOs. Through their Start Ready project, funding is collected in advance for humanitarian aid interventions in the event of recurring disasters, such as the typhoons in the Philippines. This enables HI to respond more quickly and collaborate more effectively with other NGOs after a disaster.