Tuesday, October 03, 2006

An Uninvited Visitor

It is only now that we are getting our lives back together again after Milenyo paid us a fully blown visit last Thursday. The strongest typhoon, cyclone, hurricane, call it what you will, to hit Metro Manila and the island of Luzon for over a decade. Although not a Katrina it did manage to dispatch 26 good souls to meet their maker in the city and another 40 in the provinces.

After changing its name to Xangsane it headed off to Vietnam leaving those of us not quick enough to get into pubs with generators to spend 3 nights by candle light and phone less especially after the cell’s batteries went flat.

Typhoon Palms

At the height of the storm a section of our roof decided it had enough of Manila and then was a good time to see the rest of the world. After rigging a tarpaulin to minimize water damage it was onto the roof to replace the missing iron to dissuade the rest its mates from joining the exodus. The next day was spent cooking perishables to extend their un-refrigerated use by date, 3 cheers for gas stoves, and affecting more permanent repairs to the roof than could be done in the wind and rain.

Aftermath

Now 120 hours after the event life is back to normal, the debris is being cleared away, schools and all government departments are back at work and I’m back online.

7 comments:

Lizza said...

Glad to learn you're okay, Henry. I hope your roof has been repaired!

Power was restored in my area Sunday morning. I still don't have my normal Internet access at home, though.

Henry Bateman said...

Hopefully the roof will survive under 100km winds but has prompted a remodeling of the upstairs that has been on the back burner for a while now. Bite the bullet and spend the pesos sunshine.
One of the joys of living in the shadow of Makati City Hall is the quick return of services, I mean who can afford to piss off the Mayor of Makati for a long time.

Henry Bateman said...

Glad to see that you and yours survive d unscathed. Dont know what I would do without my regular doses from The Woman Blog Ü

Anonymous said...

I've certainly got some way to go before the site about Switzerland Travel meets the standards of your blog.

wandering storyteller said...

glad to know you and your family are ok Ü

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to learn about your roof, but I am glad you and your family survived the storm.

I guess we were one of the few lucky ones. We only experienced blackout for sixteen hours, then life got back to normal for us.

Henry Bateman said...

Thanks for your thoughts and wishes Dude & Anna. It was kinda fun in retrospect sorta like camping out. Though reckon well may bite the bullet and get the damn thing fixed by a pro.