Someone prophesied that there will be 34,000 to 40,000 people will die, 120,000 will be inflict in pain and over 500,00 houses and buildings will be destroyed if the BIG ONE occurs. But DRRM prophesied that there will be 64,000 people will die if our country is not well-prepared.
According to ABS-CBN
- 170,000 heavily damaged or collapsed (13% of total building)
- 8 – 10% of hospitals, schools and government offices are heavily damaged or collapsed
- 34,000 dead, 90% of dead from pressure of collapsed structures
- 110,000 people with non-life-threatening injuries
Your first instinct is to call your loved ones but there are no cellphone signals. All around you are toppled poles and fences, collapsed houses, ruined roads, broken water pipes.
There is no MRT or bus to take you home. Your watch shows it is now 5:15 p.m. You tell yourself you can be home in an hour and start walking.
But the chaos in the street and all the debris extend your travel on foot to two hours. Finally, you are home. Fear turns to relief after seeing your family shaken but unhurt with the crowds on the street. Your family won't go back indoors; the roof might cave in. A barangay leader gives instructions to you and your neighbors to move to the basketball court to keep away from objects that may fall or topple.
You leave your family momentarily in the evacuation area and head for home. Inside, everything is a mess. Appliances, shelves, books, lighting fixtures, family portraits, clothes - all piled up on the floor.
You remember the one backpack that you keep all important documents inside, plus a few items for emergency just as they have been telling over the radio - a soap, a couple of toothbrushes and toothpaste, some wet wipes and a few medicines - but that's all.
You tell yourself you know you should have packed more but have always put it off for another day. You grab a few blankets and clothes still hanging on the clothesline and stash them in a garbage bag. You try to go upstairs but feel an aftershock, and it's a strong one. You hurry out the house but still grab a small pocket radio you keep in the kitchen drawer on your way out.
There will be more to come, you think. You turn on the radio and listen to the news.
