For Glenda Harris they were days of nonstop worry and fear after seeing heartbreaking images on television, and hearing nothing from her family.
"My family and everybody in the family was trying to prepare, but you cannot be too prepared for this," said Harris.
As the typhoon ravaged homes and buildings in the eastern Philippines, Harris was able to stay on the phone with her family during the eye of the storm. They live outside of Tacloban on the other end of the island.
"I told them to cover, stay in the first floor," said Harris.
However, as the rain and wind raged on, her phone call would eventually be cut off.
"My niece said, 'Auntie, we're going to stop for now because the wind is blowing so hard,'" said Harris. "That's when my brother said 'Pray for us.'"
Then the line went dead, and she didn't hear from her family for four days. She had no idea if any of her family survived.
"The four days is the worst time in my life," said Harris. "I just thought about 1991. We had family die, my cousin, and so I thought this time."
This time around, however the storm would have no casualties for her family. On day four, a cousin in Texas somehow received word that they were all alive, but they are left in a land where people are now without homes or food. People have to strain water through t-shirts to have something clean to drink.
Harris tells us her brother cried at seeing the devastation for the first time. But she says through the tears and the broken homes their will is stronger than ever.
"They don't worry," said Harris. "We survived 1991. We will survive this one."
She says her family can only hope for electricity, at least some of it, to be restored by January at the earliest.
Since the power is knocked out, Harris' family has to walk a few miles just to get a cell phone signal to keep in touch with her.
