Typhoon Milenyo Aftermath:Deaths due to Fallen billboards, trees and electric poles

Note: View My PHOTO GALLERY of Typhoon Milenyo (international codename [tag]Typhoon Xangsane[/tag])

At 8:30 am EDSA, on the way to pick up my daughters

(Enlarge) The heavy rains woke me up and my thoughts turned to my daughters holed up in their dorm in Quezon City. Butch and I quickly turned on our TV sets and heard that “[tag]typhoon Milenyo[/tag]” would be the strongest to hit Manila in 11 years. The typhoon was expected to arrive at 12 noon. It was 6:00 AM and the perfect time pick to them up in Quezon City. Feeling worried over their safety, my main concern was to bring them over to our home in Makati City knowing they would be safe with us. On the way to my daughters’ dorm in Katipunan Avenue, the empty trusses along EDSA is a rare sight to behold. I thought, “good thing. it’ll prevent accidents“. On the way home, we passed along C-5. Ah, it’s an amazing treat to see the landscape devoid of the tarpaulins click here.

At 11:00 AM, at our house in Makati City just before Typhoon Milenyo

(Enlarge) A few leaves are strewn all over the front lawn. We prepared for the inevitable wrath of [tag]Typhoon[/tag] Milenyo and shut all the doors and windows. The electricity had already been cut at 9:00 AM. Shortly after 12:00 noon, I heard metal screeching and crunching somewhere. I thought “uh-oh there goes my roof!” I expected a gush of water to pour down our ceiling. Looking out of the window, a gigantic branch from the tree outside suddenly looms outside our living room window. The branch broke from the tree outside , landed on the fence, broke it and ended up on the lawn.

The fallen tree branch in our front lawn

(Enlarge ) It was a relief that it wasn’t our roof that got blown away. What could we do now? I knew there were more damage and injuries outside our village. We were grateful to God for the safety of our family, a strongly built home, ample food, fuel and water. The only other inconvenience was water dripping on L’s room. The strong winds blasted all the rain water towards the upper balcony, creating a pool of water which overflowed to L’s ceiling through a crack on the second floor balcony. Removing the flooded waters in the balcony was futile as the strong gust of wind literally blew us away to the wall. We ended up placing cardboards on the balcony floor so we could elevate the flood waters. I haven’t felt these strong winds in years. Although we had no power, we still had a gas range that would enable us to cook for a candle-lit dinner.

The aftermath at around 2:00 PM
The good old reliable radio was our only source of information and link to the outside world. No power. No internet. No TV. We heard that the southwest part of Metro Manila had a direct hit and sustained more damages. Makati City, our place of residence is one of these places. I immediately took photos of the typhoon Milenyo aftermath.

(enlarge) From the balcony, we noticed that the floodwaters are slowly rising due to the overflowing creek behind the village. (enlarge)
Wading through murky waters, I inspected the typhoon damage and quickly took photos worried that a tree branch might fly suddenly to my direction. Wow, the street looked like a war zone with all the fallen trees, poles, and rising floodwaters . I have never seen so much typhoon damage in all my 40 plus years.

(
(Enlarge) A street in the neighborhood is strewn with uprooted trees and fallen electrical posts.

(enlarge) Look at this gigantic billboard that fell on a bus at the Magallanes interchange causing injuries and huge traffic jams to the commuters.

It’s about time that the ban on billboards be strictly enforced. Just looking at the latest casualties in this typhoon, a death or two has been caused by a fallen billboard. The driver of this van got killed by a giant billboard that fell on his van along EDSA corner Estrella St. The political will of our leaders only goes into action once disasters befall our countrymen. A Total Ban on Billboards must be implemented in congested areas of the metropolis. Will our government now act on this?

View complete Typhoon Milenyo photo gallery and Fallen Billboards. Other bloggers’ photo blog entries from San Pablo City (also here) and Naga City

*EDIT: Just got featured in Inquirer’s Bloggers chronicle typhoon’s fury in Metro Manila
– power got restored at 1:00 AM September 30