10 years after Typhoon Haiyan, Philippines’ Tacloban city rises from the ruins
- Typhoon Haiyan smashed into Tacloban in November 2013, and the city had to be rebuilt almost from scratch after bearing the brunt of the storm’s fury
- Survivors have ‘moved on’, but have not forgotten the lessons learned and continue to take steps to improve disaster prevention tools
Filipino widow Agatha Ando has learned to laugh again in the decade after Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the central Philippines, killing more than 6,000 people and leaving millions homeless.
Fierce winds tore apart houses and toppled trees as tsunami-like waves whipped up by the storm obliterated mostly poor coastal communities on November 8, 2013.
Ando’s husband and three of her siblings refused to leave their homes in Tacloban City that were less than 100 metres (109 yards) from the sea and died along with four children when water and debris crashed over them.
In the aftermath, their mangled bodies were hastily wrapped in wet blankets and a scavenged tarpaulin, and buried a few metres from where Ando’s house now stands.
“I am now able to laugh again, but I will never forget them,” said Ando, 57, who survived because she heeded official warnings to go inland before the storm hit.
Ten years on, the family’s mass grave is one of the few visible reminders of the devastation in Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province.
Tacloban bore the brunt of Haiyan’s fury and had to be rebuilt almost from scratch.