Tropical Storm

ollowing a long weekend in Singapore and Malaysia I had a rather bumpy return as a tropical storm was passing over the Central Visayas region. On the approach to Mactan (Cebu) Airport the aircraft hit an air-pocket and dropped suddenly, leaving most passengers with their hearts in their mouth.  In addition there was a fair amount of rough air causing the aircraft to jump about to add to the white knuckle experience.  I found myself going over in my mind the process of removing the emergency exit door (where I was fortunately seated) and was checking under my seat for the life vest.  At one stage it became so rough that the pilot told the cabin crew to take a seat and strap themselves in, which was the first time that's has happened to a flight I've been on.

The amount of rainfall has been phenomenal and it's hard to appreciate the persistent intensity without experiencing it first hand. At times it's as though the rain is no longer falling due to the effects of gravity but sounded and felt as though it was being fired out of a fire hose.  The house where I'm staying has a tin roof, as most housing in the region have, and the noise at times was deafening.  The garden was under water and I had to paddle to the car carrying my shoes and the swimming pool was inundated with dirty flood water.  Following the storms the pool has been emptied (by hand using buckets) and is now in the process of (very slowly) refilling. 

Heavy rains mean no TV and no internet in the house. Fortunately, there has been no lightning as this invariably means the power will go off too. Whilst no internet, TV and swimming pool might be considered a hardship to me, to see the impact on the local communities is to understand what hardship really is.  Some have had their rice and other crops close to being devastated and others who have been foolish enough to plant close to the rivers have had plantations wiped out.

Although no houses appear to have been destroyed there are plenty that are flooded or have become islands surrounded by flood water.  There have been numerous landslides on the roads crossing the mountains, one of them so large that it buried and blocked the road so much that not only were vehicles unable to pass, but it was considered too large and unstable for people to climb over to reach transportation on the other side to continue their journeys.  It's hardly surprising, what with all the hillside farming, excavation and building that occurs which destabilises the hillsides.  In one location there is a police training school that is constructed immediately above a very steep hillside.  I've often commented to my driver that in the event of an earthquake or landslide the whole school is going to be very suddenly relocated at the base of the hill.  Sure enough, during the storm there was a minor landslide that has brought the school even closer to the edge so it'll be interesting to see if any steps are taken to prevent a disaster in the near future. Also, a brand new footbridge crossing a river and linking communities has collapsed as well, although it's still being used in it's present state of disrepair.

The rivers that were dry or stagnant (as mentioned in an earlier blog) quickly became raging torrents that were at the point of spilling over the banks that contain them (they don't "burst" their banks as the media likes to state) and inundating the surrounding areas.  The rivers were cocoa coloured from either the local sand winning, farming on the river banks, construction activities or possibly from the copper mine or a combination of all of these factors. With the rivers flowing into the sea the whole coast line was transformed from a pretty blue/green colour to a murky, muddy hue. I'm sure this has a devastating impact on the corals and more delicate marine life that inhabits the shores. In places like Singapore there are extremely strict laws to prevent this from happening but here there seems to nothing more than lip service to rather lax controls.

After the Storm

Great visibility after the storm, unless you're in the muddy, murky sea...

In the office we were making contingency plans for localised flooding by ensuring electrical items are stored off the floor and similarly at the house we've been doing likewise, moving items upstairs just in case, although I think the risk of flooding is more perceived than actual.  What is apparent is that as the ground becomes waterlogged the impact of smaller showers has a bigger effect that the initial deluge, which was largely soaked up by the dry soils and empty rivers.

It's not all doom and gloom though, the kids seem to love it and were out paddling in flooding fields, floating around  in makeshift rafts, playing in the puddles or just showering in the rain falling from the roof of their homes.