Fixing the grid
Hundreds of thousands of typhoon victims currently don’t have access to electricity. The storm destroyed not only houses and plantations but also the national electric grid. Repair work is now underway.
Makeshift shelters
Destroyed houses and streets lined with homeless are among the most visible effects of Typhoon Haiyan. Makeshift roofs give temporary shelter to most people, but many have to get by without electricity. When storm brought down the majority of power poles, the electric grid collapsed.
Generating income
With the help of diesel-powered generators, food supplies can be cooled, lights can be switched on in the dark, and cell phones can be charged. The family that lives in these ruins is making some money with a power generator that wasn't destroyed by the storm.
Snapped poles
Power lines are no longer carrying electricity to many areas in the Philippines. Here, in the north of Cebu Island, half the power poles were blown down. The Daanbantayan region on the northernmost tip of Cebu island was particularly hard hit by the storm. Of 2,000 power poles, only 17 remain standing.
Power supplier
Gannymede Tiu's job is to get power poles working again as quickly as possible. Tiu is the chairman an energy company called Cebeco II, which supplies electricity to roughly 120,000 households in Cebu’s north. His own house has also been cut off from power supply. Like many others, Tiu's family now has to use a generator.
Ambitious plans
Cebeco managers got together the day after Typhoon Yolanda, as they call the storm known as Haiyan in the Philippines, hit the region. Their plan is to have the power grid back running again by Christmas. Electricity will mainly be generated with coal power, a source of energy known to accelerate climate change. And climate change can lead to more typhoons.
Sun power
In a way, a form of solar power is also being utilized. The typhoon swept over the company’s headquarters near Bogo City. Though the walls are still standing, boxes of files were soaked. They're now being dried by the sun. Roughly 900 Cebeco employees are working to get the power poles and the distributors fully operational again, but the company needs its documents in order to do so.
On the count of three!
This team, meanwhile, has begun to erect the first new poles - 18 were installed in just one day. In this picture, number 19 is being pulled up with the help of a rope winch. The team is working to repair a power line which will hopefully supply Bogo City and San Remigio with electricity again soon.
Working high above
A raised pole is just the first step. In order for electricity to flow through the lines, conductor cables and isolators have to be installed by workers who climb high up the poles. They know they have a dangerous job - but they don't want to disappoint their neighbors, who have put their hopes in them to get the power supply up and running again soon.
Working overtime
Bartolome Pedroza is the leader of the team rebuilding the line to Bogo City. He says that, together with his colleagues, he worked from six in the morning until ten in the evening to get the grid operational again. They haven't been able to repair all poles, though. Pedroza says it's often easier to build a new one rather than trying to save an existing one.
Long way to go
The majority of poles, however, remain toppled in the disaster area. People are desperately hoping to have access to electricity again soon - and to drinking water, building materials and enough food.