Sunday, October 01, 2006
TYPHOON MILENYO AFTERMATH
The wind gusts started around 11:00 am on Thursday; a couple of hours later, electrical power was completely shut off by Meralco in my neighborhood here in Quezon City. It was only finally restored at 9:00 pm, Saturday. Power lines and electric posts toppled by strong winds or uprooted trees are being repaired, and that will take until Sunday to completely restore power to areas affected by a Luzon-wide power outage caused by this typhoon Milenyo.
The storm subsided around 4:00 pm on Thursday at which time I drove around the neighborhood to take pictures of the damages. The strong winds broke many branches off some trees, but I didn’t see any uprooted trees; however, we had flooding in certain parts of the area, especially at N.S. Amoranto heading towards Araneta Avenue.
According to INQ7 report, in Metro Manila, there were 235 houses that were totally damaged while some 1,026 houses were partially damaged.
This tree practically lost most of its main branches; however, the debris was immediately cleared off the road by a roving cleanup crew. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando said that the typhoon had damaged about P30 million in traffic equipment, and that it would take a week to completely clear the roads.
A total of 12 giant billboards were felled by the storm in Metro Manila; however, in the neighborhood, I saw only one that had fallen off — the San Miguel Food Shop signage at N.S. Amoranto near Banawe. Fernando further claims "his agency would immediately push for the declaration of giant billboards as a public nuisance to allow his men to take them down." Milenyo's almost 100-mph wind at its peak toppled a billboard on EDSA near Estrella Street in Makati City, which fell on the Toyota FX van and killed its driver, Felipe Gumapon. A passenger was also hurt.
There weren't any apparent extensive damages or any reported casualties in my neighborhood. It was more the great inconvenience due to the loss of electricity during the ensuing couple of days which had proven to be the worst nuisance created by the wake of this typhoon.
posted by Señor Enrique at 12:09 AM
32 Comments:
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Sidney said... Hi Eric,
Good to hear that you are safe! I got electricity back this morning at 4 am. I am still waiting for running water (I start to smell like a pig ! ;-)
First time I experienced such a typhoon! Quite a frightening experience.
Too bad for all the people who lost their lives and to the thousands of people who lost their meager belongings.
Sorsogon and the whole region of Bikol was badly affected. My wife told me that some houses were just blown away...
Typhoon or no typhoon I waited for you at Quiapo Church. ;-)
Only Major Atienza attended our meeting ;-) and went straight to church.
Don't worry, I walked a bit in the neighborghood and lit some candles!-
Señor Enrique said...
I didn't mean to stand you up, Sidney, but you know how it is, if Napoleon ever finds out I was out galivanting and chillin' with the mayor while mom had no electricity in the house ... well, you know how it is.
All kidding aside, I feel bad for those families who lost their homes and sources of income due to Milenyo. Seems like Bicol is one of those always hard hit by such calamities.
We at least have running water, and don't worry, Rizal went for a month without bathing to save his money; this was according to the book "Indio Bravo" which I got to finally read. BTW, that book you recommended, "Kite Runner" is a gem! Thanks!-
said... Thanks for the update - I was wondering how my fellow bloggers fared in the typhoon. Glad to hear you're OK. I am sorry for those who lost their homes and livelihoods in the typhoon.
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Señor Enrique said...
I was really tempted to start bitching and comparing Manila's infrastructure (or lack thereof) to NYC's, Aurea, but with all these local history I've been immersing myself in lately, I compared this blackout experience to Manila during the 19th century. And guess what, the past couple of days suddenly became tolerable :)
We're fine and thanks for your concern!-
said...
I read in Manila Standard Today that it was really bad and some lives were taken. I hope that everything is back to normal now. Calamity. Sigh.
I hope that you and familia are okay too, Eric.
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Sidney said...
There is nothing to bitch about... I think people cleared the roads quite quickly and worked around the clock to supply us back with electricity & water in an acceptable time frame.
To be honest I feared it would have taken them ages to repair the damages. I saw the scope of the damages and I have to salute those people working around the clock.
When work is well done we should say so.-
said...
A friendly hullo from one expat to another. Hello, Ello, Yello, Whaazup, and a good ole' How you doin'!
Great to read about your storm adventures. We're still without power in my aprtment, but I haven't checked yet this morning. Maybe, just maybe I have power!
I've added you to my daily reads! Thanks for the news from another place in Manila...:)-
sunkissed said...
oh boy. what a mess this typhoon has made. i hope everything's back to normal.
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said...
That is some strong typhoon. Glad to hear that you're alright.
Thanks for sharing the pics.-
said...
it seems south of metro manila was hardest hit. I was able to take photos of UP Campus and there were lots of uprooted trees there. Why did it take that long for electricity to be back? It's good that we still had water and gas to cook for food as these are not dependent on electricity in my house. Welcome back to the light!
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said...
My goodness! Great pics. Metromanila looks like a war zone! That was some typhoon. There were some Filipinos stranded in Cambodia and they couldn't even call to Manila.
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Senorito<- Ako said...
My family said that this typhoon uprooted even the biggest trees in our area.
btw, your binondo church shot still haunts me... great shot !!-
said...
Just curios Senor - did Typhoon Milenyo's eye hit Manila? Looks like it passed by for about 5 hours max and went on its merry way to the Pacific Ocean. Was it a category 1 ?
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Gayzha said...
It's good to hear that you are all safe! I have been watching the live telecast on TFC channel and the Philippines is really lucky that there are only a few casualties! Well, compared to the calamities in other asian countries like Indonesia and Thailand!
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Señor Enrique said...
Thanks. Kyels. Although we had no electricity, we fared rather well.
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Señor Enrique said...
Yes, Sidney. But guess what, after posting my response to Aurea's comment, my phone went dead; the entire neighborhood is still without a dial tone to date.
I'm currently in this Internet cafe with about 100 units and three customers yet, this spiteful manager insisted that we three sit next to one another -- shoulder to shoulder. No, I ain't got a thing to bitch about. Life is sure grand! Whoopeedee!-
Señor Enrique said...
Hello Adelay!
I trust all's fine with you after the storm. I hope you can at least open your windows; some high rise buildings are without such provisions.
Thanks and I'll do the same. Will visit your site in a bit,-
Señor Enrique said...
There are still some schools without power in the neighboring areas, G. Knotee. So, that means some businesses remain closed as well. But other than that things are getting back to normal although I heard another storm is nearing Bicol.
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Señor Enrique said...
Thanks, Irene. It was somethng else, I tell you -- without light for three evenings. Except for now without any phone service, things have pretty much gone back t normal around the huse.
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Señor Enrique said...
Oh, Noemi, and I love those (acacia ?) trees that lined up the drive around the UP campus. Were most of them downed by the storm? Hope not.
We were all right with water and cooking as well and there were were still plenty ofm left over food in the fridge so we were okay. But I missed the light, though.
That was some brave reporting you did, but congrats on being mentioned prominently by Philippine Daily Inquirer!!!-
Señor Enrique said...
Welcome back, Toe. Hope you had a wonderful time in New York!
Yes, I heard a lot of people got stranded at airports, but glad to hear no major transport accident caused by the storm. A lot of damages created by falling giant billboards, though.
We all should follow Sidney's lead and petition for all billboards near heavy traffic areas to be dismantled.-
Señor Enrique said...
I was in Quiapo yesterday to light some candles, S.A. and things seemed pretty much back to normal over there. Went to Palanca Street to get sme ham and mini hopia as requested by my mother.
I trust your family is all right, S.A. and now back to normal everyday life.
I can't wait for you to get your own dSLR. I have a feeling you'll do wonders with it!-
Señor Enrique said...
From what I understand, BW, and what made most local folks grateful was that it wasn't the eye of the storm, but rather its tail end, which explains its rather short run over the city.
It was a Signal 3, which I believe is the highest or worst category.-
Señor Enrique said...
Thanks, Jase. Am I glad it's all over. And yes, I'm most grateful as well that there weren't that much casualty considering its intensity. Actually, one of the candles I lit yesterday was to give thanks.
I am now without a dial tone and may be sporadic when it comes to logging online until it gets repaired by the phne company.-
PhilippinesPhil said...
Since the phone company bills you no matter how many calls you make, i think you can probably expect to wait a bit to get your service back up to snuff. The electric company doesn't get paid unless we are using their "juice," so it makes sense that they kick butt and get the lights back to burning... I'm a cynical SOB, aren't I? chuckle!
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-= dave =- said...
Hi Señor E! Glad you're safe. Thanks for dropping by my blog again. The summer story was just in time for the typhoon, eh? Do watch the entry's comments, the owner of Casa Remo just might provide the contact details to the resort.
As of this writing, our housing unit is still without electricity (stolen wires) and tap water. I'm surfing from the office. I'm currently writing a long blog entry about Milenyo by hand, rediscovering the joys of pen and paper. It will include my memories of Milenyo's predecessor, Rosing, whose Signal No. 4 I experienced full blast in Bicol. (Yup, that's the strongest signal, and I assure you the winds howl a shriller tune of destruction when they're over 200 kph.)-
Unknown said...
grabe nga yung bagyo no. actually umalis ako para pumasok 5am kaya parang wala namang bagyon, tapos nung nag lunch ako from canteen's windows nakita ko sobrang lakas nga ng ulan at hangin, tapos balik ulit work. pag-uwi ko ng 6pm parang wala lang kasi wala ng ulan. nung nasa biyahe na kami, ganyang ganyan yung nakita ko sa daan, daming punong naputol at nabunot kasama ugat, noon ko lang na realize na grabe pala ang pinsala ng bagyo. sa tv na confirm lahat. para kasing dumaan lang na mabilis ang bagyo tapos isang iglap ganyan na makikita? buti umalis kaagad si milenyo. sana makabawi kaagad ang aapektuhan ng bagyo :)
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said...
hi senor! glad to know youre ok. sa amin it felt like we're in the province coz starting thursday, we didn't have electricity, phone and even cell phone signal. thank God the phone and signal were restored last friday but as of today we still don't have electricity. it seems as if it's our part of san juan that still doesn't have electricity yet. T.,T
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Señor Enrique said...
This is true, Phil, because in NYC, the more you use your phone, the higher your next bill. Here's it's more like flat rate.
But the electric power is more important and I'm glad we got back our service last Saturday :)
Trust A.C. wasn't as hard hit, and that all is fine with you and the family.-
Señor Enrique said...
Okay, I will Dave.
This wire theft (I mean telephone and electrical wires) has got to stop, because it inconveniences many households! Jeeez!
I didn't even know there was a Signal 4 ... darn.
I had to endure reading by candlelight for three evenings; at least the books were interesting enough to get me going :)
Looking forward to your new entry, Dave. I really enjoy your writings :)-
Señor Enrique said...
That must have been a trip, Cruise. Wala kang kamalay-malay, eh ... may nangyayari na palang hindi kanais-nais sa labas. Siguro para kang nagising na lang at nasindak sa mga nakita mong natumbang mga sanga ng puno, lumipad na yero, at iba-iba pa.
But I'm glad to know you managed well through it all.-
Señor Enrique said...
I'll pray that you get your electricity service restored soonest, Caral, because that is so important.
Except for phone and cable TV services, everything else is fine at home.
Glad to know that you and entire family fared well despite of the inconveniences involved.
