BOLINAO, PANGASINAN, Philippines?Like a bad dream, images of her town mates who lost their homes when Typhoon ?Emong? struck this town early this month keep haunting Margaret Celeste.

Celeste, an environmental activist, says she feels helpless and could only cry.

?What if it rains? What will happen to them, especially the children? How will they rebuild their houses?? The questions keep her restless.

It has been two weeks now since Emong pummeled this town, but, except for main roads that have been cleared of debris, the scene was the same as the morning after the typhoon.

Many houses are roofless and in a state of disrepair. Most fish pens and cages on shorelines are gone. Uprooted trees and toppled electric posts still block roads.

Many families are still mourning the loss of their loved ones. At least 25 people, mostly caretakers of fish pens and cages, died and a few others remain missing.

?At night, in my bed, I cry for my town, I cry for the people I see and I can?t do anything,? Celeste says.

Distribute relief goods and feed children, with the help of friends and volunteers, are the most she could do.

?The pictures show [the extent of devastation] but the personal accounts of the victims will make you more emotional like me,? she says.

Celeste says the municipal government, led by her brother, Mayor Alfonso Celeste, has been working nonstop with volunteers to bring the town back to its feet.

?I pity my brother because the problem is too much to handle,? she says. ?He is also attending to the hundreds of victims who come to ask him for assistance in all forms.?

But what worries her most, she says, are people in roofless houses.

?I?m praying every day that it won?t rain because it?s hard to imagine how these people will live without a roof or with holes in their roofs,? Celeste says.

She says she is also worried about the children because almost all schools in the town have been destroyed.

?Some of those who can afford have transferred their children [to schools] in Alaminos City to study. But what about the poor?? she asks.

What keeps her from losing hope is the outpouring of help from various groups and individuals.

Bolinao natives abroad have set up a page in the Pangasinan Online website (www.pangasinan.org) for donations. At least $4,000 has been raised so far.

Celeste says it may take more than a year for her town to recover from the devastation.

?But we always hope and pray that soon our lives will be back to normal,? she says. ?You will see Bolinao? rise again.?