Even if a new dictionary would be invented in order to describe the destruction, desolation, despair, grim, tragedy, mayhem which were inflicted by super typhoon Yolanda in the cities and towns of Eastern Visayas and neighboring provinces, the new words therein would still fall short in our attempt to chronicle this calamity of unprecedented magnitude in modern Philippine history. As of last night, Red Cross Philippines has estimated that at least 1,200 residents in various places in Samar and Leyte have perished in the aftermath of storm Yolanda, believed to be one of the most horrible storms in human history.

Twenty-hours after Yolanda smashed Eastern Visayas, with Tacloban City bearing mercilessly the brunt of the storm’s anger, it is still almost impossible, except via choppers, to reach hundreds of thousands of Tacloban residents who are now hungry, thirsty, desperate. Airports, roads, bridges, ports, power lines, and communication facilities have been toppled down or rendered impassable by Yolanda, making it difficult for relief mission teams to respond to the sick and hungry and thirsty. The destruction could have been Bohol’s fate had we lacked in prayer and faith. But thanks to the devout believers of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who continually stormed the heavens with their prayers and intercessions.

Yolanda, while approaching Guian, Estern Samar, did not weaken its strength and its direction continued moving west northwest and spared Bohol from what a mission team from the United Nations had described as a devastatingly horrible as the of Indian Tsunami in 2004. We may have cheated harm but this is no cause to rejoice – this is no cause to decommission our disaster preparedness efforts in anticipation for any kind of future calamity. The Oct. 15, 2013 quake had taught us the fleetingness of this life and the temporariness of things no matter how antiquated these may have been. Friday’s super typhoon, on the other hand, had taught us never to underestimate the wrath of nature. And never to take risk reduction plan for granted. A day before Yolanda made its landfall on Guian, Eastern Samar, the nation went gaga over Janet Lim Napoles’s testimony in a Senate hearing which eventually turned into an exercise of futility. Many Boholanos and the rest of Filipinos diverted their focus on a comic question and answer pageantry. In social media websites, folks started to equate the importance of Napoles with disaster preparation. Was the Napoles stuff part of our damage control?

And Yolanda had spoken.

Thousands have been feared dead. Hundreds of thousands more were rendered homeless. All the things that we had expected would not happen had indeed occurred. As they say, there is always a first time, and rightly so, the destruction brought upon by super typhoon Yolanda is first of its kind in the city of Tacloban City, which suffers most the fury of a rather unstoppable force of nature. The Boholano people are still reeling from the trauma and pain and loss caused by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake. In the wake of the Oct. 15 killer tremor, we have proven to the world that we are emblems of what it means to be truly a helping hand to the grieving and to those in need. The bayanihan spirit of the Boholano people will not go unnoticed. Many are watching us how we are going to respond whether or not we can still become healers to the brokenhearted despite the fact that our souls are still wounded.