Driven by despair and determination to survive: a couple's typhoon story
Couple tell of ordeal when typhoon struck and the daily hardship they are learning to live with
The despair around them has become so commonplace that Joyma and Delfin Perlas, in some ways, feel lucky.
They are not quite homeless. They sleep in a concrete husk, the ground covered by a tarpaulin, using damp clothing for pillows.
And they are not quite desperate. They can still get water and food, so long as they can scrounge enough money - and then chance into a seat - for the two-hour ferry ride to the intact city of Cebu. "Yes, I would say we are lucky," Delfin said. "But our lives are terrible."
In their post-typhoon existence, survival itself has become a full-time job in a region where water is scarce, banks are closed, fuel is non-existent and candles provide the only light.
I would say we are lucky … If we’d stayed in Tacloban we’d probably be dead
Joyma, 35, and Delfin, 38, lost no loved ones, but their experience in the past week points at the broadest consequences of the super typhoon. As the storm struck, they huddled in their attic and watched the neighbours' roofs fly off like kites. The following day, Saturday, they were still almost too dazed to walk, let alone plan. By Sunday, grocery store prices had tripled. By Monday, the shelves were empty.