Sendong: The Tormented Souls

A recent tragedy took my city by surprise a few months ago.  The typhoon Sendong (International Name: Washi) claimed hundreds of lives in just a few hours.  It was in the middle of the night when it struck us when majority of the population were in deep slumber.  The raging waters rushed from the mountains, overflowing our rivers and gigantic logs soon followed wreaking more havoc and killing anyone -- humans and animals alike -- who were on their way.  Darkness enveloped my beloved city and in that darkness it also had brought the wrath of death. 

The typhoon left everyone reeling from the horrifying experience.  According to some Medicinemen we interviewed, some souls thought they were still alive and so they continued to live normal lives.

There were a number of accounts of jeepneys picking up groups of students from a school and after reaching a certain intersection near the barangay which was badly hit by the catastrophe, when the driver glanced at the rearview mirror about to collect the fare, nobody was there.  The laughter and the noise would also cease once they reached that particular place.  This was one of the reasons why jeepneys in that area don't travel beyond twilight.

The subdivision which was almost wiped out during the flood remained dark even today because only a few went back to their homes.  The Bayug Island, which was hit the worst, now resembles a ghost town.  People say that up to this moment they would still hear dogs howling, rushing waters gushing by the river, and people screaming, crying out for help.

Crosses erected at the riverbank of the now uninhabited Bayug Island which was once full of houses 

The first night after the incident was probably the hardest, aside from the fact that people were left homeless and searching for loved ones lost during the previous night's nightmare, they needed basic necessities such as food and water.  People became desperate as the death toll rose and the list of missing persons also got longer by the minute.  Majority of the missing persons were never found til this day.  Some bodies washed up several kilometers from the city, some even crossing the sea.  In the darkness one will hear the heart-wrenching cries of the babies and children who died.

My friend is one of the survivors who went back to his house.  He lives in the first barangay which was hit by the logs.  On his first night back at his home, while talking to his girlfriend on the phone outside his veranda, he noticed a group of people walking on the road.  He was confused why there were almost a hundred children, adults, and even old people trudging along somewhat in a trance going to the direction of the bridge.  This bridge was broken when the strong current from the river combined with the force of the logs slammed into it.  He was amazed because these people were all very quiet, one would think that it's weird  to have a hundred people all walking together but doing it soundlessly.  He moved closer to the road to have a better view and what he saw dumbfounded him.  All 100 were floating in the air.  All of them were covered in mud.  He could even see each face of the figure when he got close enough.  In the shadow he could see the sad faces of these people.  At the end of the long parade were two "Santilmo" or balls of fire hovering after the throng of people.  He followed the group and they all disappeared at the bridge.

People got mentally deranged because of the severe trauma that they have experienced.  One person consulted a doctor asking for her daughter because the daughter cannot sleep at night and would always play druing the day talking to her "friends."  The daughter claimed that she was playing with her "playmates," the ones who unfortunately did not make it.  These children were also the ones who kept her awake at night because they would ask her to help them.  They were all covered in mud and some with blood.  It is as if at night they would reinact what happened to them.

Until today, both the living and the dead are seeking closure to what happened during that horrible night in December of 2011.  They say that dying from accidents prevent the souls of the dead to reconcile with the fact that they have died and so they continue to linger among us.  Acting like they are still one of us.  Still living with us.  When will they rest?