Photo: Ceilings collapse from the weight of intruded water. "A friend has been sweeping water out the door," said Douglas, "for which we are grateful, but there will be so much to repair with so many windows gone." Rural Alberta Report/D. Nadeau

Safe in comfortable Three Hills, Trevor and Norma Douglas keenly followed the progress of super typhoon Fung-Wong as it churned across the Pacific in early November, rolling closer and closer to their second home in the Philippines.

Long-time resident missionaries in the Philippines, the Douglases, now semi-retired in Alberta, return annually for three months, using their two-story overseas home as a base for missionary strengthening, teaching, translating and support.

Typhoon Fung-Wong was less devastating to the island nation than super storm typhoon Kalmaegi a week earlier; it flooded, destroyed and caused a million Filipinos to flee. Fung-Wong hit closer to the Douglas home with more intense winds of up to 216 kph.

If the Douglases had been in country during Fung-Wong's November 8 reign of terror, "We would have chained bed frames over windows to prevent them from caving in. Our area took an almost direct hit; a neighbour texted, 'We are glad to be alive, but our rice crops are ruined.'"

Anxiety from a distance comes in various forms—knowing a massive super storm is coming, listening to news reports that say the house and area are in the middle of Fung-Wong, and not knowing for nearly three weeks what had happened to their home because all power and communication was down.

"Talk about frustrating!" exclaimed Rev. Douglas. "Is the house still standing? Is it roofless? What about neighbours and the school we've been part of for 41 years? At least we know it's basically intact, but don't have a clear damage report."