Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

My name is Sarah Vander Wal. I grew up in Manteca,  but moved in 2016 to a tiny island called Saipan out in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and Japan. I have been teaching here ever since. 

Last Wednesday-Thursday, my island was hit by one of the worst storms to hit U.S. soil: Super Typhoon Yutu. It was a terrifying experience as I huddled in an apartment with some friends listening to the storm, and trying to guess what objects were being hurled through the air and smashed into our building. We stayed up through the night watching the doors bow in and rattle violently, hoping they would not give in.  

In the morning, when the storm had passed enough for us to go outside, I found that my island has been destroyed. Nothing could have prepared me for the damage that I saw when I first caught a glimpse of what the storm had left behind. Tin roofs had been ripped off of buildings and still hang mangled and impossibly twisted in the trees. Huge trees have fallen, uprooting massive chunks of earth and smashing through buildings. The park behind my apartment was completely flooded: a horrible soup of splintered wood, jagged tin, and fallen trees, all seasoned with the trash from the buildings and businesses across the street. 

Since the typhoon, we have been working hard to rebuild our little 44.6 square mile island. Each day, I get up early, drink my cold coffee (unless the generator gets turned on early), and get out to work. I have been spending the days out in the hot sun, clearing what feels like miles of tin roofs, and acres of fallen trees, ripping up carpets that have been flooded to clear a place for displaced families to stay in a local church, and putting the fence back up at our local animal shelter. 

Each night I fall into bed as the power goes out around 10, exhausted, but satisfied. This time, while challenging, has also been one of the most beautiful in my life. Seeing neighbors rally together and watching friends give of themselves until there is nothing left to give, and seeing this community pull together is something I never could have imagined. Walking down the street, random strangers stop for a smile and ask how your house held up, or how you are holding up or share a quick word about how things are going on their part of the island. 

In a strange way, I am the luckiest girl in the world, to be able to see all this. To be a part of this community that helps its neighbors fearlessly. To watch a whole island stand in the face of this horror and pull together. Stand strong. Put the storm in the past, say goodbye to the things they lost and not look back as we rebuild.

As I hear stories of people whose roofs were ripped from their houses and they were forced to take cover under a bed, lying in an inch of water and trying to stay warm. People who stood at their doors during the worst hours of the storm and held them closed to keep their families safe, I know that this is something I will never forget. Something that has changed me. A beautiful lesson that I wish every person could see. 

So the work continues. There are many more challenging days ahead as power and water shortages continue to be a problem, and many people are still without homes, but we are hopeful and do not lose heart. However, the rebuilding process requires many resources that are scarce or nonexistent at this time so attached is a press release from my school about some of the needs that we are facing. I am wondering if you would be able to publish it in the paper so we could possibly get some help out here. 

Sarah Vander Wal

 Saipan

(Former Manteca resident)