Back in July we we hit by Typhoon Matmo (or Henry in western parlance). We were expecting it overnight but in the morning it was a case of "Well that wasn't as bad as everyone made out it was going to be" and so went to the supermarket.
In the hour it took to stock up on a few essentials and a couple of goodies all hell seemed to have broken loose whilst we were in the store.
Trees were down, roads were blocked and power lines down.
Here are some photos:
Three days without power certainly concentrates your mind about how dependant you are on electricity. No internet, no computers, no TV, no lights and when it gets dark at 6 pm the evenings suddenly seem so long.
I bought some battery powered LED lanterns from the local hardware store to provide some light in the evenings. These things were Php 120, a whopping £1.71 each. The batteries to put in them were more expensive (the girl on the till suggested rechargeable batteries - er, hello, there's no power, how am I going to charge them?!).
The lanterns were made in China (of course) but when you think about the actual raw materials, which was mostly plastic, but with the array of LED lights, a bit of wiring and battery terminals and then add to that the assembly and wages, transportation to the port, shipping to the Philippines, customs and duty and then distribution to the store, how on earth can they only cost £1.71? And, AND still be sold for a profit?
And you know what? They may have been cheap in both cost and quality but there was nothing wrong with the amount of light they produced and being LEDs the batteries last for ages.
