Were already discussing this here... http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/whats-the-weather-like.27497/page-28#post-360416
Thanks for the warning and we just got lucky again with most of Cebu missing this monster storm ... Looks like the bad destruction path it cut like a tornado across the island chain was narrow but packed a good punch all the way across east-to-west as it passed ... Sounds like the eastern seaboards also took a big hit from the huge waves the storm surge brought with it ...It remains to be seen how the inner parts of Samar and Leyte are affected but most likely it was blown away with the winds with the water damage being much less out in the provinces maybe... Lots of native homes over there from what I saw that will be blown away but if the people live, they can rebuilt that stuff if the wood is re-usable... Seemed like it was moving really fast and no really damage other than banana trees being blown over ... Apparently coconut trees are hard to blow over and can be used as barometer of storm\wind strength ... Almost zero coconut trees blown over in my area but I saw pics where every coconut tree in a grove was blown down on Samar I think... -- I went out today and looked at the damaged area north of me on the tip of the island... Almost everyone home is damaged to some degree .. People there are OK but needing water and food ... Water is scarce there because of no electricity ... Food is scarce due to no supplies being brought into the city since last Friday ... Roads are at least open now. Felt really spooky seeing this stuff for real. I'm gonna buy some supplies tomorrow and with the help of some local friends, drive back up there and some how disperse the food and water to some of the people on the sides of the road ... -- Here is a few pics of Samar, out in country side to give you an idea of how these guys live and what they are going through ... Its probably full of these small villages across Samar and Leyte islands once you get away from the coastal flatlands ... These villages will all be flattened most likely and someone is gonna die out there ... On the good side, they will have a natural spring there to provide water, so they have a fighting chance to survive ... I'm not sure how or when any help can be provided out there ... With that natural water supply, they are probably better off than the city folks who so packed up ...Worst case is they walk out to find the towns there demolished and no help. -- The states had a C-130 over there flying people away from affected areas and that is about as good an idea as there is at this time. But I'm here to tell ya, the scope of the damage here is beyond and it will take yrs to recover ... I'm not sure who can finance rebuilding all this .... --
Best wishes to all there. We are sending an aircraft carrier there to assist. 500 sailors and 80 aircraft.....
Its sad when this happens to anyone but really sad when it happens to people and a country that don't have the resources to rebuild ASAP. Going to be a rough road ahead for many there unfortunately. Hopefully global aid will be massive and long lasting.
I have to admit the states are looking pretty good so far in their efforts ...That carrier can make seawater into drinking water ... maybe this can tie these guys over till they can get their own water plants back up and going ... I think that is about all anyone can do here.. Just keep people alive and somewhat hopeful for the short term and life will go on. Seems really weird in area hardest hit ... Its like life just stopped in its tracks. I'm just wondering how commerce is gonna get started again and the towns come alive again ... Maybe no electricity is the problem ... Maybe it will come back on and these places will come back to life. The cities like Tacloban on Leyte that are wiped out, may stay like that for a long time. Or maybe somehow, it can rebuild in the next decade.
Thanks ... As bad as it all is, the weather being so mild makes it all bearable within the food and water shortages. Plus, Filipinos are very sociable by nature. Events like this will draw them all together even closer ... Most of these places these guys will share and work together to get through this. -- The GOV and the big suppliers of relief should finally start reaching people today I hope ... The hardest hit cities get help first .. There is progress being made here but just slow... I did see another small area that had lights yesterday that did not have electricity on the 1st day we traveled there.
A couple of friends and I took some rice and water and instant noodles and fish up towards Bogo yesterday ... Never done anything like this before but it was pretty cool helping these guys out some ...Its the least I can do now for this country allowing me to stay here and all the good times I've experienced... I'll go back tomorrow with some other neighbors here who wanna give something away also but have no way to get the help up there, so they asked to use my truck ...Should be another good time ... We'll crack a few redhorses I'm sure ... I did not take a lot of pics but this is what the national Hiway around the island looks like heading into the 'signal 4' area where the worst damage occurred at ... This is ~signal 3 damage in these pics. My friend Obet ...he did the packing of the goods for me along with a couple other guys and is the only guy in my immediate area who is tall enough to ride the Huskies, making him the No.1 rider \ driver when I move my bikes around from time to time. You can see the trees took a real blowing at the top ... But you can't blow those coconuts outta the trees very easily... And the tree does not come over in 'signal 3' level damage often... Signal 4 stuff up the road a few more miles and they start going over ...
Someone needs to introduce some sort of safe store water collection (rain) system there . that place is all tropical, fresh water falls from the sky all the time, just need to collect and store it.
Good idea ... Many do that on a individual scale with a large drum or something. Nothing on a large scale though. Water is almost an immediate need and if it was ready day 1 of any disaster, it would help out will the overall cause immensely ... I'm convinced all people, are all trying to do the same thing each day, we just all go about it differently ... Always interesting for me to watch these guys operate on a daily basis. And again, they have their own bottom line way of dealing with all this outage.
Nice work Ray. Keep the updates coming, more picturs please. Have you seen any of the supplies that the George Washington has been distributing?
A buddy of mine n Cape Cod did this. Doesn't use it for drinking, but he does use it for watering grass, garden and such.
I'm thinking all the relief aid from uncle Sam is over on Leyte and Samar where the worst damage has occurred, so it is all out of my area really ... I'm make direct connect if I see an American soldier here for sure. We finally did see some piles of international goods here on Cebu yesterday being given out to the locals in Bogo City ... This place was torn up but escaped the destruction the other places received due to water and wind damage ... There was at least 5-6 miles of electricity poles that were blown down (every one of them) in the area we passed yesterday. And this is just one small area. Gonna be a while before that is fixed BUT they are working on it now. -- Here's a couple pics from yesterday when we gave out some supplies... Forgot my memory card for the camera so pics are very few ... Anyway, at least 1/2 the vehicles we saw on the roads yesterday were locals who had supplies to give out ... This is all just people with something to give, just giving food to their neighbors. And we saw many of the groups of people on the sides of the road with small bags of food so we know they will not be hunger for this day. I really liked seeing this help and attitude coming from ordinary citizens just wanting to help each other... Helping is a big deal to these guys around me... Its a big deal to see foreigners helping here also in this grassroots manner. (The aircraft carrier is a big deal also, but this is everyday life here that lasts long after the carrier is gone) ... They will all notice what the local foreigners are doing at this time. And it will be spread throughout the grapevine system to a degree you may not believe ... I'm again happy to say word is good on the local foreigner support here. It was really cool how even the guys who could not purchase stuff wanted to help load the truck and disperse the food when we got to the damaged areas. Made it a no-brainer for me pretty much and (as in most cases here,) I let the locals handle it and I just ride along in the rocking-chair most all days ... New friends here in this pic ... These guys gave alot of everything to their neighbors ... You can have 200++ lbs of rice alone and it seems like a lot but when you start giving it out, it just seems to go out so quickly as people come and go ... -- This area was at the top of Cebu island .. Mostly fisherman there that drive the economy ... Somehow, these guys are gonna have to get back out there and start catching and selling fish ... This will bring food in and re-start the cycle of buying, selling, and eating each day (I think) ... Just a simple, easy, and very good idea that anyone can do to help take the load off their water system. Living here, many modern conveniences are not always so readily available and their true paramount values are shoved to the forefront.
