Just last week I had a hell of an experience with a super-typhoon that hit our area. One of the mistakes I made was report for work. By lunchtime, work was suspended but I can't get home because the wind outside was so strong and it was raining like hell. Scraps of metal were flying all over so I thought it was safe to stay inside. 2 Hours later the wind and the rain subsided so I tried to get home. Most of the roads were blocked and there weren't enough public transportation going around so lots of people got stranded. The train that i take daily was out of service. It was pretty hopeless waiting for a bus ride so I went to walk along with maybe hundreds of others.
As I was walking, I witnessed the damaged the typhoon brought. A lot of huge trees were uprooted, some metal posts were bent, lots of electrical posts were brought down by the wind, some glass on the malls were shattered, signs were scattered everywhere, and huge billboards were shattered and sent to the ground. Some container vans were knocked down onto their sides. One huge billboard fell on a passenger bus and a utility vehicle. The driver of the utility vehicle died and it took hours before they could get the body out as the vehicle was almost squished.
After an hour of walking, in a long strecth where there was no shade or cover whatsoever, the skies decided to unleash its aquatic fury on me. Good thing my bag was water repellant so as not to drench the documents I was carrying. After 3 hours of walking against the wind and the rain, I noticed that I was just halfway home. The thought made me feel real tired so I decided to rest for a while. Good thing my cell phone signal went back and my mom called to check on me. Minutes later my folks picked me up, lucky me. The following day, I called in sick...
After almost a week, a lot of areas still have no electricity and water. We are one of the lucky ones as we are one of the first ones to have our power back. Good thing our home didn't really have any damage, some homes lost their roof, some got flooded, and some got hit by falling trees/branches.
Well anyway, I just wanted to share. Its still a good thing I live in the tropics. We don't have to deal with ice/snow/hail/. Have a good day everyone. We are all lucky to be alive.
