BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Aive has lived in Broken Arrow with her husband Allen for over four years.
Aive is from the Philippines and still has family living in Cebu.
“I couldn’t sleep that night worrying about them,” shared Aive.
On the 15th of Dec. Typhoon Rai slammed into the Philippines leaving devastation and carnage in its wake.
Late that night on the other side of the world in Broken Arrow, Aive was scrolling through her social media when she came across some posts on how bad the storm actually was.
She tried to get a hold of her family, but was unable to reach any of them.
It was three days until she was finally able to FaceTime with her mother.
The entire Cebu province had been ravaged by Mother Nature.
“All the houses in their neighborhood were destroyed,” said Allen.
Her sister has sent her dozens of pictures and video capturing the overwhelming damage in Cebu.
Aive said her family told her that during the violent rains and high winds, all the neighbors headed to her parents house to hide underground during the storm.
“It even flooded underground. They managed to stay on all in the chairs and they we’re up all night,” said Aive.
The province currently has no power or no water.
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The local residents are now reportedly charging their phones and still have access to the internet through solar power and car batteries, according to a text message from Aive’s family member in the Philippines.
Aive believes it could be February when her family members can finally get the power restored.
Aive continues to keep in touch with her family as they update her on the recovery process.
“Thank God they’re okay,” said Aive.