(This is a much delayed entry since power lines were interrupted for two weeks in our place due to the storm)
And so everything was going well as I helped out at the newly opened internet cafe in our baranggay. Then Tropical Storm "Cosme" (International Name: Halong) came for a horrific visit. As I think about it now I call the storm the "cost me" typhoon, though it wasn't that bad for us... actually we were the lucky ones.
Saturday morning when winds were blowing to the tolerable level - ones we usually experience on normal typhoon signal no. 2. So we still had the time to prepare the whole day. Around 4 PM though, the winds became stronger and it was then I checked PAGASA for updates. "Typhoon Cosme will be in Ilocos Sur in the evening" 
and I thought, 'uh, does it mean Ilocos Pangasinan or Ilocos really Ilocos?' Before I can find out more, as if on cue, the wind blew harder and electricity was cut-off.
Then by 5:30 the wind picked up speed with heavy rains and everything it seemed was chaos. Inside our house there were drips and even in our bedroom below, water from the upper room flowed down the walls thus creating a puddle on the floor.... and oh wow, from 6:30 to 9:30 the winds became harsher you could hear the windows rattling and someone else's roof banging on something. My, it was so dark outside but we were able to peek out from the jalousies : we saw all the banana trees on our backyard split in two, even the guava and the duhat trees were knocked down. The gutter from my neighbor's house banged against the wall. Our kitchen utensils from our open air kitchen, and even our clothes on the clothesline were strewn all over.
The worst was when we heard a loud thud that I can't stand to check - our bathroom roof was ripped off! And despite the danger, my husband and I kept going from room to room saving and keeping what we can, away from the windows. But by then most of our belongings were getting wet. Guess what I saved first? My CPU.
I have never been so scared in my whole life. I really thought it would be the end for my house and my family. It was scary to even see the iron sheets flying past and the broken windows too.
And believe me I prayed so hard for my peace of mind because I could hear my heart beating so fast. To make it worse my husband was yelling at us to stay away from the windows so we all stayed in the living-dining room and parked our mattresses there.
After praying I calmed down then I was just comforted by the thought of Jesus sleeping in the midst of a storm. So I thought, if Jesus was that calm, then I should not be afraid! After that, I did not mind the winds so much I just tried to sleep. Right that very moment I felt the winds calming down too. Everything was still okay.
*************
So we woke up early the next day to find: the mango tree on my neighbor's garage.
Another neighbor's windows , those are 32 jalousies, broken and strewn all over their porch below.
Still the house behind us, yes, that was the gutter we've been hearing all night.
And, yes, that's our pitiful bathroom with the roof gone 
And from the side of my house an old guava tree fell and damaged two water pipes, mine and my neighbor's.
View from my neighbor's backyard and further my uncle's house under repair.
Still the mango tree that fell on the garage from the house behind ours. (back view)
And here is the MOST horrible sight from a family friend's house..
Good thing no one in our place was hurt. We were all just badly shaken.
Thank God we are all okay despite the devastation in our place.
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