KAGMAN — Ramon Dela Cruz, 66, sat for coffee on the south side of his rented Kagman home Wednesday morning when he saw the trucks roll in.
“I thought to myself, man, that quick? These people is ready to go to war,” Dela Cruz said. “Any kind of war they can go.”
Dela Cruz’s home became the first installation site for Operation STRONG, the federal-territorial temporary roofing program launched Wednesday afternoon. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crew began removing storm-damaged tin roofing within hours of arrival, with installation expected to be completed the same day.
Dela Cruz has rented the property from his cousin for the past seven months and he shares the home with his son, his son’s wife, and four grandchildren.
The family did not stay in the home during Sinlaku, Dela Cruz said. He sheltered with his father; his son went to an uncle’s concrete house. The window of the home was unsecured and the storm caused total damage to the interior.
“This is the longest storm I ever had in my life,” Dela Cruz said.
After the storm, the family salvaged what they could. “We just have to choose the favorite ones and try and drive, bring it to the laundry and everything, but the rest is like already,” Dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz contacted FEMA on Monday and a team came out on Tuesday for measurements, he said. By Wednesday morning, USACE crews were on site.
Before the temporary roofing arrived, the family had been sheltering under an eight-year-old tent that came through unexpected hands. The tent had originally been registered to a man from Super Typhoon Yutu who has since passed away, Dela Cruz said. The man’s son, who is the brother-in-law of Dela Cruz’s son, had kept the tent packed up and unused.
“I think the Lord has opened up that guy, my son’s brother-in-law’s heart,” Dela Cruz said. The tent was offered to the family because they did not have a home.
“My children have a good snooze at night and dream a little bit about new homes,” Dela Cruz said.
Dela Cruz said the view from the property had been one of the best in Kagman before the storm.
“Sometimes Saturday when you come outside, it just arouse to a view,” Dela Cruz said. “But now it’s like post. I’m okay with that. It’s going to come back like the rest of us.”
Federal Coordinating Officer Andrew Grant told reporters at the kickoff that he had spoken with Dela Cruz before the program launched and learned the family had sheltered together at a neighbor’s home for 96 hours during the storm.
“For us to come full circle to the point where we’re with delicacy doing what we’re doing to enable him to come back to his home is pretty special for him,” Grant said.
