October 17-19: Super typhoon “Juan” (International codename: Megi) had reigned havoc in various parts of the Philippines, pummelling provinces in the Northern Luzon region, leaving trails of destruction and countless casualties including:
– at least 11 fatalities, 66 injured, more than 200,000 residents had been evacuated, a few others missing, and some stranded in ports;
– threatened the country’s food supply as it devastated thousand of hectares of agricultural lands and ruined agricultural crops (rice and corns) with an estimated total loss of P1.55 B (US$ 34M);
– hurt the economy due to business closure in affected towns and provinces; business loss in the fishing, airline and sea travel industries due to cancellation of flights and barring seagoing vessels, boats, and the likes from sailing / leaving the ports;
– uprooted trees, destroyed public infrastructures and private properties, including our house;
– marring power supplies and communication due to damaged electric power lines and communication facilities leaving 5 provinces, including Kalinga, uncontactable and with no electricity;
– flooding and landslides resulting to impassable roads and isolating some towns and provinces; and as of the moment, roads going in and out of Kalinga are closed;
– displaced families with no homes to go back to;
– and leaving the poor more poorer (redunduncy for emphasis) specially the farmers who had lost their source of livelihood.
Paranoid, scared and worried. I had been monitoring “Juan” since Saturday (October 16) because the country’s weather bureau, PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration), had warned that this “Juan” is a super typhoon which may bring heavy rains similar to that of “Ondoy”. (“Ondoy” is the most devastatin typhoon in 2009 which had caused massive floodings, submerging Metro Manila and other nearby provinces in September of last year). Hopeful… that PAGASA had just overestimated the strength of this cyclone and it will just turn out to be an ordinary weather disturbance that’s just harmlessy passing through the country. Praying … that everything will be ok, that my parents, siblings, nephew, nieces, inlaws, relatives, and friends will be safe and out of harm’s way.
“Juan” is expected to touch-down in Luzon before noon on Monday (October 18). “The agency’s Aparri Radar recorded that the ‘eye’ of typhoon Juan made landfall at Estagno Point near Divilacan Island on the eastern coast of Isabela province at 11:25 a.m.”, twitted PAGASA (PAGASA’s twitter account: http://twitter.com/dost_pagasa#):
According to the PAGASA updates before noon on Monday (courtesy of www.gmanews.tv) “The storm has been carrying maximum winds of 225 kilometers per hour, with gusts of 260 kph, It has been slowing down, and was earlier seen tracking west southwest at 17 kph” . Typhoon signal number 4 had been hoisted in Cagayan, Isabela, Mt. Province, Ifugao, including Kalinga while Metro Manila is on signal number1.
Survival is the name of the game as the typhoon surged in the country and I believe that Filipinos have learned their lessons well from past experiences and that is a good sign of improvement:
– PAGASA for once, had been accurate so far in it’s forecast;
– the whole nation, including me and other Filipinos around the world, is in full alert since day 0. Everyone had seen the importance of being vigilant in times like this and complacency put’s lives at risk;
– The government’s disaster management response group and other government agencies along with private groups had been well-prepared ahead of time to mitigate the effects of the typhoon. Rescue and relief responses including evacuation operations were all set and they were able to efficiently and effectively deliver a good service.
Let me borrow PNoy’s words when he commended PAGASA for a job well-done, to PAGASA “I am very pleased, with its accurate and timely predictions, that enabled all other agencies to be ready.”
My applause of acknowledgement also goes to the Local government units, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Public Works and Highways, the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fires, and to all volunteers who had who had joined forces and risked their own lives just to be able to provide help and assistance on the wake of typhoon “Juan’s onslaught.
Thank you to all of you and keep up the good work! 🙂
. . . . . . . . . . srm . . . . . . . . .
We are grateful that despite our roofless house, all is well with our relatives and family in Tabuk specially our Papa Ambring who was left alone with our pets at home (Mama Tessie, Farah and Richie were all in Manila with Joy, Frankie and Ambrei). My in-laws are fine too.
God is always good to us 🙂 Thank you for keeping our family safe including our pets 🙂 Thank you!
. . . . . . . . . . srm . . . . . . . . . .
Storm signal number 1 is still up in Manila and nearby areas and “Juan” continuous to blow strong wind and dump heavy rain as it finds its way out of the country heading towards China and Vietnam.
And Yesterday evening “Juan” finally leaves the Philippine Area of Responsibility. But the threat may not be over yet since “Juan” which had remained stationary at the China sea may regain strength and “could be pushed back to the Philippines by 2 weather systems in the vicinity of China which were holding the typhoon back from its northwesterly track,” according to PAGASA (from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
God help us.
. . . . . . . . . . srm . . . . . . . . . .
After “Juan” what’s next?
-Sharosem(20October2010)
Some Photos taken during “Juan’s” fury – downloaded from the internet :
The roof flies off a house as super typhoon Megi, known locally as Juan, hits Ilagan City, Isabela province, northern Philippines
Posted by Sha 
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