Cave was an ancient sanctuary against raiders

MARABUT, Samar -- Three years ago, this cave became the village's savior when it became the emergency shelter at the height of typhoon Yolanda's fury.

Located three-storeys high above the ground in the coastal village of Tinabanan, the cave, which can house over a thousand people, kept the villagers safe as Typhoon Yolanda whipped and turned their houses upside-down.

Ahead of its third anniversary, survivors of Typhoon Yolanda commemorated the disaster by conducting an evacuation drill in Tinabanan Cave, which has now become the permanent designated emergency shelter for the barangay.

The villagers have made it a regular program to conduct evacuation drills to ensure the next disaster will even be more efficiently handled and still be casualty-free.

This particular drill involves lighting the main portion of the cave, the toilets and makeshift kitchen using the TekPak, a portable solar device capable of powering lights, mobile phones, and medical devices.

Portable solar-powered electricity, like the TekPak, is currently being proposed to become an integral component in disaster preparedness programs and humanitarian work. In the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda, many communities further suffered when they lacked immediate access to electricity or ran out of fuel to power their generators and light their kerosene lamps.

“Our Yolanda experience three years ago taught us that access to a better energy source is an urgent need in vulnerable communities. Renewable energy should become a vital component in disaster risk reduction and humanitarian work because it is easy to deploy and is not reliant on complicated logistics during disasters,” said Arturo Tahup, Project Coordinator of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC).

The ICSC has provided training on solar installations and trouble-shooting to hundreds of typhoon Yolanda survivors, including those from Tinabanan, under its Solar Scholars program which aims to turn Yolanda survivors into first responders in times of disaster.

Once an ancient sanctuary against raiders, the Tinabanan Cave has now become a refuge against extreme weather events.