I'm certainly enjoying the comfort of my Hotel room here in Manila. Aircon, hot water shower, TV (CNN of course) and cold San Miguel BeerI realize this is not a subject for a Forum such as this, where we are more interested in our rig, where we are, where to next, and are we gunna meet any GNs on the road today, but as I am here in this Third World country and just had a big fright, I thought you might be interested in this story.

 After giving up a career in aviation, I lived in this Country for many years with my youngest son, owning a Hotel and 2 Beach Resorts. The Hotel went in the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, another big one, the biggest volcanic eruption of the 20^th century and I was 10 miles away !! In 2003 I moved to Launceston, Tasmania, but I still own a house in Cebu Province and spend about 3 months of the year here. Several typhoons hit the Country each year so I constantly log on to the U.S. Military Weather Station in Hawaii, which seems about the most reliable source for Typhoon warnings, to ascertain if I will be affected by any whilst in Country.

When I made the first post I'm In Trouble Super Typhoon is Coming on November 6, I was in Samar and noticed a Typhoon forming south east of Guam. As it progressed to between Yap and Palau, I noticed it was heading west north west for a direct hit on Calbayog City. You got it Plendo  !! The prognosis indicated winds were 215 kph gusting to 250 kts. Calbayog is on the western side of Samar so the winds would lessen a little when it hit but any tidal wave would be on the east and not affect me. Waves were forecast at 10 meters !!

I boasted that I had experienced numerous Typhoons, 2 Earthquakes and 1 volcanic eruption, but with tongue in cheek, this Typhoon started to worry me. A little voice was telling me Get out. I had never experienced a direct hit by a Typhoon and winds in excess of 100 - 120kph. Flights were suspended leaving an 18 hour bus ride to Manila. I dont travel well in buses with chickens, goats etc., even if the bus is air conditioned.

When I made the next post on November 7, I noticed that the Typhoon, now named Haiyan, heading remained the same but the actual track had slipped to the southern tip of Samar, in fact it slipped another 20 or 30 km before making landfall. This gave me a margin of 200 km from the center, although the diameter was forecast at 600 km, but I figured that I was far enough from the center to avoid any real damage.

Next morning, Friday around 5 a.m., power went off. This coincided with this Super Typhoon, now code named Yolanda now it was under Philippine responsibility,  making landfall in Leyte Gulf. This is the area General McArthur landed in 1944, coming from his headquarters in Brisbane with Australian and American Military units to take back the Philippines from the Japanese occupiers. The Typhoon hit with sustained winds at 315kph, gusting to 380 kph. In Calbayog it was rather tame, strong wind and driving rain but no real damage done. Leyte Province was 90% flattened. The power station and power poles were knocked out. Samar and Leyte will not have electricity for at least 2 months. Only one Internet Café is open and when I went to use it, 30 people were queued ahead of me.  No thanks. Only 2 ATMs online in the whole City. People lined up for blocks. I went to one of them at 5 a.m. one morning and only had 4 people ahead of me.

With no communication with the outside world, I was lucky my son was in Angeles City, about 80 km north of Manila. He kept me updated with text and phone calls on weather and what CNN were saying. This presented another problem. How do I charge my cellphone battery !! Cellphone stores with a generator were charging Pesos 20 (50 cents) to charge batteries.

Today I watched the footage on CNN and read accounts of the tragedy. The death, destruction and plight of those who survived is heart wrenching. Even Big Gorillas can get a tear in their eyes

Monday, flights to Manila resumed but it was not until today I could get a seat out

My home in southern Cebu Province was undamaged. Some towns in Northern Cebu took direct hits and were flattened. News seems to be centered on Tacloban. There are lots of other Towns and Cities that took a direct hit. Mostly in Leyte Province, Ormoc City, Palo and most towns in Eastern Samar.

No point in telling you about the deaths and damage as it's all over world press and TV, but before I conclude, let me tell you a few points. Firstly how a Typhoon forms:

Tropical typhoons form where heat and moisture from the surface of a warm ocean interact with a warm wind pattern that spirals air inward. The water vapor condenses into storm clouds which are further fueled by the heat and wind.

Finally how and why deaths occur: The Philippines, comprising a large number of Islands, 7107 to be exact, many poor people live on the coastline. They are mainly fisher folk and live in bamboo, sawali and grass shacks. They mostly do not have any means of communication. Imagine your shack and hundreds of others hit by a 10 meter wave, although Ive heard the height was up to 15 meters, about 60 feet, backed up by 300 kph winds !! Now you can understand why bodies are in trees.

And finally the main cause of deaths in tropical storms is caused by corrupt Politicians who run illegal logging businesses. You dont hear anything about this. They leave hill and mountainsides denuded of trees, and as soon as the rain comes, landslides bury the villages below killing thousands. These corrupt Politicians should get the Death Penalty, but its now been abolished, so at least life imprisonment. Their only consideration is money. There is no consideration for the anti-logging laws they helped to pass in Congress and no remorse for the thousands they kill each year. But no one is prepared to take these powerful men to task. Together with mass corruption,  this is why the Philippines is a Third World Country and always will be

Finally, and once again, thank you all so much for your kind wishes and concerns. You are a great group of people on this Forum..

Tuesday night I'll be enjoying the luxury of a Singapore Airlines big bird winging my way to Melbourne and onto Launceston. Then it will be time to think about my MH and the next trip to the big Island !!......Mabuhay.....Ken.

-- Edited by Big Gorilla on Sunday 17th of November 2013 10:03:21 PM