Super Typhoon heading my way

Thanks all, it was a scary business but exhilarating also. I put my camera in a plastic bag which may account for the seeming 'vignetting' on the pics - the most scary thing for me was not having a lens protector! 

Great to hear that you survived a storm that hopefully most of us will never see the likes of.  As others have said the news has given some us some idea of the devastation but a first-hand account certainly adds something.  I have just been looking again at some of your fantastic people photos and it is fairly obvious that many of the people in them will not have been so fortunate. 

It is difficult to see how the building in “wash day” (nice photos Nov 5) can have survived such devastating winds, or for us to fully comprehend the suffering that goes with such destruction.  Your pictures help to bring it to a more personal level and I just hope that the colour returns soon to the people out there.

Glad to hear you made it and are safe and sound, and thanks for those amazing photos.  Are you in the Philippines?

Yes, I'm in the Philippines and in a quiet area usually untouched by typhoons but this time we were right in it. 

Our house is mostly on one level (although there is one large upper room too) and it is mostly built from steel reinforced concrete with a good strong roof. Some people have houses built from bamboo with tin or native palm roofs and they should have been evacuated but many are too stubborn to leave. Almost certainly they are homeless now. They will re-build and carry on as if nothing has happened. Sadly, I am sure many will have lost their lives also but I'd rather not know the death toll. To paraphrase an old adage 'there is no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate housing.' Having got my own in order I will tour around tomorrow and see if I can help anyone. Some of these tiny little shacks are so pitiful it breaks your heart. Sometimes old folk live in them and sometimes slightly potty single mothers who have been abandoned by their unemployed, drunk 'lovers' and cast out by intolerant 'religious' families. 

I just went outside for some fresh air. The sky is clear and bright with stars, there is a gentle breeze and the sea lapping the shore can hardly be heard above the sound of crickets or whatever they are. If you were here now would not believe that yesterday all hell seemed to have been let lose. There were butterflys in the garden this morning although not as many as usual. How do they survive a typhoon?

Glad to hear from you,Sniper!What a scary sea...

just been talking to a couple i know quite well in the gym this morning. They got back just last thursday from  2 weeks holiday in......yep the philippines. They left on the wednesday,lucky or what.

Mista h

Forester, 

You mentioned my 'Washing Day' photo and you wondered how such a house would fare in the typhoon so I went to look for it. At first I simply could not find it although I was certain I was in the right place. Then I realised I was looking at it but I had not recognised it. 

Here is a Before and After photo for you. 

Sniper,

    Looks like a small problem in the scheme of things.

Paul

Not surprising you struggled to recognise it but having seen some of the other pictures of terrible devastation it is surprising that any part of it survived.  It demonstrates the benefits of having a stronger (relatively speaking) core to a house and hopefully that meant that its inhabitants survived.

All very sad and I can't help thinking about what happened to the old guy and child in the picture you posted the day after.  However in light of the scale of the tragedy it is probably best not to focus on individual cases but to think of the population as a whole.

Horrific loss of life reported today.  The numbers seemed to go from 100 odd to over 10,000 in the blink of an eye.

Thanks for the pics.

G