It’s been six months since Typhoon Odette ravaged Cebu and other neighboring islands. A lot of people have already forgotten about it. For most Cebuanos, however, the memories of that horrific night remain fresh.
To this day, hundreds of destroyed homes, buildings, and property remain unfixed. In fact, if you drive around the city, you can still see houses with no roof, age-old trees left rotting on the side of the road, or building facades riddled with holes.
This week, let’s revisit some scenes from the morning after the typhoon wreaked havoc on our beloved city leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
Aftermath of Typhoon Odette
Neighborhood
When it was finally safe to go out, this was the sight that greeted us. This was the empty lot behind our house. And the small hut where all the neighborhood kids would play was completely destroyed.
Here is my cousin Sven trying to locate a portion of his roof. He didn’t find anything. He did find something that belonged to a house located several blocks away, however.
Outside, an even bigger problem greeted us. By the way, just to share, the electric post close to our house still hasn’t been fixed.
Banawa / Guadalupe
After seeing the damage in our community, I decided to hop on my bike to see the situation in other parts of the city.
The strong winds destroyed several glass walls of the 168 Mall.
A very old tamarind tree in Banawa (fronting the Sundance condo tower) blocked at least three lanes of the road causing heavy traffic.
Only ‘ee’ was left after the typhoon.
Escario / Lahug
The tall signage in Jollibee Escario wasn’t very lucky. It fell right in front of the store.
In Lahug, Odette destroyed a lot of very old trees in front of the UP campus.
The ‘skywalk’ of Barangay Lahug lost most of its plastic roof sheets.
In Salinas Drive, tree branches and electric posts blocked the road. The wires also made driving very difficult.
Cebu IT Park
Cebu IT Park was such a disaster.
There were debris and tree branches everywhere.
The typhoon also damaged several outdoor restaurants.
Not even the famous Sugbu Mercado weekend food market.
Cebu Business Park
Along Archbishop Reyes Avenue, major power lines were destroyed. Grand Convention Center, too, was greatly affected. To this day, the center remains closed.
Several buildings, including this one, along the ‘hotel corridor’ fronting Ayala Center Cebu were also badly damaged by the typhoon.
Midtown Cebu
In Mango Avenue, this small restaurant is gone for good.
In Fuente Osmena, the highly-anticipated yearly Sinulog Santo Nino Shrine by Penshoppe was totally destroyed.
And the iconic 2021 Christmas Tree fell to the ground, destroying a portion of the park’s perimeter fence along the way.
The Sinulog display of Bambi Cooking Oil in front of Robinsons Fuente suffered the same fate.
The unused structure beside the Crown Regency tower had several damages on its facade.
And midtown Cebu City’s tallest structure Crown Regency lost a lot of cladding sheets.
Below, a huge pile of debris sits at the hotel entrance.
Osmena Boulevard
Osmena Boulevard was such as mess as well. Trash, leaves, and branches covered the road.
This steel structure (PNP Coop?) lost its top floor and rooftop.
Downtown Cebu
In Colon, this giant billboard tarpaulin hangs from one of the wires.
Most billboards and posters on the buildings didn’t make it.
Pieces of broken glass cover the area in front of Mang Inasal in 138 Mall (old Plaza Fair.)
B. Rodriguez Street
Along B. Rodriguez Street, fallen electric posts blocked at least two lanes.
At the B. Rodriguez Bridge, tree branches covered at least two lanes of the road.
And back in V. Rama, this sturdy structure looked very delicate after Odette’s attack.
Watch this video I took on the same day:
Do you have Odette photos? What do you think about the aftermath of Odette in Cebu City? Let us know in the comments below!
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