By Venus May H. Sarmiento
Dagupan City (27 May) — ‘Twas the night when roofs of houses and buildings went flying like some magic carpets and trees were falling down like puny sticks.
Tropical storm Cosme’s ominous winds were felt starting in the afternoon of May 17, but no one perhaps not even PAGASA, expected the kind of disaster it would bring in its passage to become the worst weather disturbance to ever hit Dagupan City and the province since typhoon Gading in 1998.
The unusually strong winds were first felt at round 8 a.m. but by and large, it was business as usual for major establishments even as typhoon signal number 2 was raised by PAGASA. At 11a.m., the winds grew stronger, strong enough to blow off an umbrella of a walking individual.
For a while, residents savored the cool wind that came their way, a brief respite from the extra humid air of the summer heat. After lunch, big trees began to sway and one had to make extra effort to go against the wind. Power would soon go on and off too.
At 4 p.m., the winds began to howl and brought an unwelcome companion-heavy rains. The lights went out, an indication of the wind’s intensity recognized by the electric companies thru many similar experiences. Darkness blanketed the city, bringing the first wave of anxiety.
The howling wind roared in at 6 p.m., catching many people still out in malls and other public places. The terrible night had started-to last till sometime past 9 p.m.
People cowering in fear in their homes, buildings or whatever available place of refuge they could find swear they heard the wind go higher, like it was being lifted upward from its lower perch, until the howling became a fading whisper in the distance. The rains though still poured mightily till midnight, Then, everything became quiet and only the croaking of frogs could be heard in most villages. The storm has ended.
The morning after, at around 5:30 a.m., people began to filter out from their houses to survey the damage of the night before. Fallen trees, blown roofs of houses were everywhere. Debris, tree branches and GI Sheets littered the streets.
All around the city, houses were devastated, electric posts toppled, billboard structures bent and thrown to the ground. Central and other Western Pangasinan towns like Calasiao, Mangaldan, San Fabian,Lingayen and Bugallon were pictures of devastation like a war zone.
NDCC said damage to roads, bridges and waterworks amounted to 19,2 million. Electricity, telecommunication and water system have been cut off in Pangasinan, even one week after the storm.
Whoever among our officials who said they were prepared for calamities was certainly not referring to this one that Cosme brought.
While all hell was breaking loose the night of May 17 though, there was an unexplainable inner sense of security in this author while waiting out the calamity in the family’s modest home which has seen and withstood many big storms and typhoons including the 1990 killer quake. The inner sense of security probably came from her little daughter’s prayer to God before she went to sleep that He keeps us all from harm that night.
With a mother’s lullaby and a little help from an abaniko fan to ward off the mosquitoes, she fell asleep as Cosme rages outside to wake up the next morning like the little angel that she was. The most wonderful thing to witness was her breaking out into a smile to greet a new morning like nothing happened to the world around her. (PIA-Pangasinan)
