The storm that destroyed Puyelba took a week to build strength.

The meteorologist borked a bit about its severity.

Some models said the front would hit, some said it would miss.

The governor hesitated for days on a state of emergency over budgetary concerns,

but by then it was too late.

Humanitarian aid workers arrived the morning of the updated arrival time.

They were unprepared, under-manned, and out of time.

I, unfortunately... Undemand and out of time.

I, unfortunately, happened to be one of them.

By then, the media dubbed the hurricane a new name,

Superstorm of the Century.

It was devastating to see such an obvious tragedy before it happened.

Most of the residents were poor families of the workers and the dock and in the shops.

They lived in small and outdated homes all downhill from gendrified McMansions built by tourists

on the main throughway. The weather would be worse than any natural event in living memory.

The wind alone would uproot their houses. The flooding and mudslides combined

would sweep anything remaining out to sea. The But the locals could not.

We knew people would die.

You always expect death in these kinds of situations.

The question then was how many.

My group spent most of the afternoon in town, where we guided folks to the emergency shelter

located at the top of the hill.

...