Nature's powerful forces

Manila bay walk has been my 'front yard' for the two years I've lived in charming Malate, or the 'Old Manila' which some voices claim to be a despicable red like district while others call it the home of the art scene.

Two days after typhoon Pedring paid a visit to Manila's bay side I paid my visit. I almost didn't recognize it. It's beat up, torn up, fractured in every meter of its roughly 1 kilometer long leg, stretching from Manila Yacht Club to the US Embassy.

Like a battered body with gaping wounds it's lying there lifelessly. Sandbags fill the gaps in the sea wall which looks like its front teeth got knocked out. Manila bay walk an open corpse exposing broken bright orange water pipes, like disconnected veins and arteries.

I feel like a voyeur, attracted to the crime scene by a youtube video, which shows the beating, the merciless pounding of an angry sea.

The city of Manila started collecting the skeletal remains, wipe off the blood, and catalog the damage. It's gonna take a few months in plaster bed before Manila bay walk will be able to walk again.

A stormy visit

It's not the calm before the storm, it's the rain which announces the soon arrival of a typhoon.

After non-stop rain on Monday, typhoon "Pedring", with the international code name "Nesat", made landfall on the Eastern coast of Luzon yesterday. Although north-east of Metro Manila, Pedring made its presence felt in the Metro with incredible wind gusts, uprooting trees, and flooding homes and streets. Today, the sky is gray. Scattered rain showers mark Pedring's exit from the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), lowering the Public Storm Warning Signal (PSWS) in Manila from yesterday's #2 to #1.

I did not learn about office suspension until I was already on my way to work... (I'm not discussing the effectiveness of late-night e-mail announcements or 8am text message to inform workers of office suspension...). Bravely, I was making my way to the walled city of Intramuros, home of my local office. At 7:45am, Roxas Boulevard was already impassible. I watched the water flow away from the bay, forcing its way "upstream" along Quirino Avenue. It was not until later that I learned Manila Bay's sea wall partially collapsed under the pounding waves! The US embassy, nestled right at the bay, as well as luxurious hotels such as the Sofitel flooded later on.

I thought it a smart move to detour to the Makati office. Sheltered at the 10th floor I watched Makati being devastated during the four hours of peak winds. The ceiling-to-floor windows uttered weird noises as the wind pounded them mercilessly.

Most parts of Metro Manila were (and still are) without electricity. Either because of broken power lines due to falling trees or due to safety reasons. Usually power companies disconnect flooded areas to avoid accidental electrocution.

After rain and storm come floods and landslides. It will take a while for Metro Manila to regain its normal face and pace.

Under Falcon's wings

Last week's 'wet-from-all-angles' sailing experience left no doubt: the typhoon season has officially started in the Philippines.

Since yesterday, it is typhoon Falcon spreading its wet wings over Luzon. No storm signal had been issued for Metro Manila. Strong winds are truly not the problem. It is heavy rainfall which “reached the “abnormal” level of 44.4 millimeters in just three hours, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., way above the normal level for June of 10 mm per day” which paralyzes the city.

My ordeal started already Wednesday night. Heavy rains woke me up several times. I started panicking at the thought of being trapped in the bus to commute to the office. The roads are in bad shape anyway since our water provider Maynilad started ripping them open for pipe work half a year ago. My imagination was running wild what non-stop rain would do to my 2 hour commute (one way) to the office...

In the morning I treated myself to a cab ride in. Taking a different route, I made it to work within an hour!

Intramuros, the walled city in old Manila, was still passable at 7am. Despite the rain, the office had electricity and internet! Not always the case during typhoon season.

When I left the office for lunch break at noon small puddles sprung up her and there. Coming back to the office an hour later I was already tip-toeing through a sheet of water. When I left the office at 6pm, Intramuros was completely submerged!

Luckily, I got a ride to Makati. Staring out the window of my waterproof air-conditioned vehicle I watched Intramuros, Malate, and Manila Bay flush by. Makati was a big swimming pool with people walking knee deep in the murky water. Needles to say Manila's infamous traffic chaos worsened with every drop of rain!

The main arteries and veins that keep Manila's traffic somewhat moving were blood red, tinted by the tail lights of non moving cars. Glenn was stuck on the new Skyway whose exits were backed up. His only way forward was to go backward. Back to Alabang that was. I knew no cab would dare taking me south either (or maybe for triple the usual price). In short: I was trapped in Makati for the night.

Thanks to a well functioning social and cell phone network it took me a few texts to arrange a shelter for the night. Lesson learned: be prepared! Until the end of typhoon season, I’ll always carry a toothbrush and a clean set of underwear!