ABARC Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I have a flight booked to Manila in about 5 or 6 hours.....then I will camp at the airport until they give me a flight home. I'm hoping to be back to work on Friday......but I seriously doubt I can work before then. I'll send you an e-mail with more detail. I haven't gotten any e-mails. Are you sure my email is correct? It's my initials (all lower case) then @live.ca ...have you been using live.com? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 I haven't gotten any e-mails. Are you sure my email is correct? It's my initials (all lower case) then @live.ca ...have you been using live.com? yup....not sure why it didn't work. Anyways.....flight to Vancouver is booked.....hope to be on 7pm ferry nov 12 to Swartz bay.....I'll let you know if that changes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 wifi connection at manila is spotty as heck.......it took me 8 hours of trying to get online. spent last night and all today camped at the airport with plenty of other (mostly Asian) travelers....but the overnight and daily temps are very mild. Got some good naps in.....there a Jollibee for meals every 5 hours or so.......I'll probably try their whole menu after my 21 hour layover. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 found out the wife's family is alive and well just the house needs minor roof repairs but others were not so lucky. A lot of the village is simply gone. We have sent her youngest brother who is going to school in another part of the country with strict marching orders of buy as much food as you can and take it home. Thanks for all your prays and well wishes they seem to have worked I left Boracay about 6am trying to make my noon flight home....turns out the airport was damaged and shut down for 2 further days. But at the boat docks it was all local people getting off boracay and going back to the provinces to sort things out for family. These people are quick to respond after a typhoon. Leyte got hit by the full force of this monster storm......and in that area it was a monster storm. What I saw was very freaky and powerful, but nothing compared to the terror experienced in Leyte. But....the bulk of people survive these storms.....but that is little help if a family member is injured or among the dead. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 Hacker, MY co-worker and good mate is from Leyte, and is still awaiting word from his aunty and uncle. They have heard from his grandmother and she is alright but it sounded, from what he was telling me most of his town was crushed. He is currently trying to find a way to get her moved elsewhere. My thoughts go out to every on in the Phillipines. That's the best plan....move her somewhere that isn't damaged.....then she can buy rice etc. But for many people.....leaving friends behind is impossible after such a storm. I was impressed to see Western union was up and running in the less damaged areas despite the lack of electricity.......this country survives on Western Union. 2 days after the storm and all the street vendors in kalibo were selling small flashlights.....it gest real dark after the sun goes down. I did see one guy in Military camo at the kalibo airport.......so I suspect the military might have been involved getting that airport up and running 2 days after the storm. My guess is the bulk of local and international military support is being focused in the leyte area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 >>> CVN-73 CSG on the way <<< -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 >>> CVN-73 CSG on the way <<< -Gregg This is good news. These ships can provide plenty of help including plenty of fresh water. And the choppers will help reach remote areas. I've been informed an hour ago that Angel and her family are safe. Also a new storm is going to the same area....on a slightly more southern track. It's only a category 1 with winds of 45 km/h but I suspect this one might bring some rain. It's due to track south of Iloilo....a city where I have some friends and a city I visited on this trip. It looks like this new storm will miss Boracay completely.....good news for my friends there as they are still without power and not keen to have a new storm so soon. I was seeing plenty of fresh tourists arriving at Kalibo airport ready to begin their minivan trip to the boat docks to take them to boracay. Power is already partially restored to Boracay and it looks like they will have full power to the poorer neighbourhoods in a few days if all goes well. Most of the resorts already have power and are no longer using generators. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 As a side note....I've heard the US military is planning to occupy it's old bases in the Philippines to help stare down China in it's island border disputes with the Philippines. China is quickly becoming a bad neighbour with it's bully tactics regarding it's border disputes over islands with a few countries including Japan and the Philippines....both big US Allies. It's good to see the US considering reoccupying it's bases in the Philippines.......I know the people of the Philippines welcome the American big stick as the Philippine military is no match against China. I was called "Joe" quite a bit here and this is a complimentary name for white guys and refers to US GI Soldiers during WW2 that helps liberate the Philippines from the cruel Japanese occupation. My flight leaves here in 45 minutes if it is on time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 If anyone is interested, the Canadian Red Cross has set up a donation campaign for the Philippines Donate Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 I'm finally home...it felt good to finally shave and have a hot shower. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bmccarron Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Welcome back to beautiful and fortunate BC. Cheers Brian in sunny Delta. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SERNAK Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Good to have you back Steve B. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rustywelder Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I'm happy to say that my friend has accounted for all of his family. Now it is just down to convincing his stuborn grandma to go somewhere safer until things calm down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rick in Maine Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Happy to read you are back home. You've managed to wind quite a tale. I sure appreciate the efforts you went through to give us stories of what was happening. They were some of the first on-the-scene accounts of what happened. So now, we'll be seeing walkarounds of Phil. AF a/c? ;) Cheers Rick in Maine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Texan Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Glad all is well with you and yours Steve! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 There's no place like Home ... Glad you're there, Steve ... -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 This video was taken 20 km from Angel's house and about 90 km south of where I was during the storm. This place in the video was very close to where the storm was strongest. This area is usually spare the bulk of typhoons and never sees the worst of thre storms. I traveled through this area 10 days before the storm.....to see this video is heartbreaking. I know friends that now have family members that are homeless. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 This video accurately shows how the winds looked from my location. It was windy to say the least and at the worst of the satorm...we were all afraid to open the balacony door and step outside. The destruction later in this video was much worse than I saw in my location in Boracay. Boracay for the most part was undamaged. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AX 365 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 (edited) Utter devastation....WOW :jaw-dropping:/> And we b*tch and barf and whine and complain if winds rip a couple of shingles off our house or we get a foot or more of snow in one dump or the sewers back up and cause a bit of flooding. A drop in the bucket to what those poor folks have endured. Glad you made it home safe, Steve. Edited November 15, 2013 by AX 365 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 That video was shot about 50 miles south of where I was during the storm. I took a bus down that same road a week earlier....it was so beautiful and peaceful on that bus ride. I saw a little family store with the name "Tata Store"....Tata is a girls first name there....I found the name of the store rather amusing....but the bus went by too fast to get a photo. Here's a couple of photo I took....I saw 6 or so of these poles in a row in the exact same condition. They were being replaced with concrete power poles. It was a big storm and this location was 30 miles from where I was during the storm. These metal poles are about 12" across at the base. I took the photo because I really didn't think anyone would believe me.....I didn't even beleive what I saw with my own eyes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I feel truly sorry for anyone who went through that storm and particularly for those who will have to deal with the aftermath of it for a long time into the future. My family and I spent two years on Guam in the late 70s and there were four typhoons during that time. Two of them were "only" barely over the 75mph minimum to be classified as typhoons, but the other two were both in excess of 200 mph. One little anecdote, you haven't lived until you have experienced a coconut hitting the side of your house at 200 mph. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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