Facing the Wrath of Typhoon Pedring

Typhoon Pedring threw his full force yesterday morning in the City of Manila and I am one of the unfortunate people who had to face it. Despite the heavy rain, I still went to the office because the government and my bosses did not declare any cancellation of  work. My trip to the office was fine and the bus is traveling fast because there are no traffic because classes in universities were canceled.

Everything was OK until I went down the bus and face the strong winds caused by the storm surge. My red umbrella battled with the strong wind but its resistance is futile. In few seconds, my red umbrella was mangled, bent and defeated. I have no other choice but to throw the umbrella away and be soaked in the rain. I am just few steps to the office when I saw an office mate who told me that the Malacanan Palace just announced that work is canceled because of Typhoon Pedring. I am frustrated with the fact I braved the winds and rain for nothing. The government should have made the announcement very early so that office workers, who leave their homes early, will know that work is canceled. Are the inhabitants of Malacanan sleeping?

Interesting things occurred when I started my travel back home. Jeepneys are already full with employees that belatedly received the news of work cancellation. Flood waters are high in some parts of Manila, specifically in Taft Avenue and Roxas Boulevard, and many jeepney drivers decided not to travel anymore. I decided to travel via the LRT but its operation was stopped because of brownout. Typhoon Pedring continued to dump heavy rains and blow strong winds to all of us who are finding a way to go home.

I was forced to walk toward Quiapo Area because it is the only place where I can easily board a bus. Travel was not easy because many parts of Manila are flooded. One of the flooded area is the street of Escolta.
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Typhoon Pedring - Escolta is flooded
Flooded Escolta Avenue.
Even the street that goes directly to Quiapo Church is also flooded and people are forced to ride pedicabs to avoid walking through the filthy waters.
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Typhoon Pedring - Flooded road to Quiapo
Flooded road to Quiapo Church.

Typhoon Pedring's wrath continue unabated. The storm surge continued while I walk to Quiapo. What scared me is the sound of sheets of metal roofing that is being blown by the wind. I feared that a flying metal sheet might hit me and slice me in halves.
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Typhoon Pedring - BPI sign fell
Sign post of Bank of the Philippine Islands is no match with Typhoon Pedring.

Thankfully, I experienced no harm when I traveled back home. I reached our house just totally soaked because of Typhoon Pedring. I saw the news and other office workers fare worse than me. Many of them walked thhrough knee deep floods. Some were stranded because there are no bus or jeepneys that can pass through the floods.

My Typhoon Pedring experience is not that bad as compared with what I experienced during Typhoon Ondoy. The only thing that disappointed me is the slow action of the government when it comes to cancellation of work. They should have declared the cancellation very early to avoid inconveniences to Filipino workers. The slow action of the government caused many employees to be trapped in the floods and face the full wrath of Typhoon Pedring.

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8 comments:

  1. OMG! Look at the flood waters! I am so glad I did not visit Manila in September. I think I made a wise choice to visit during January right? : )

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  2. So Roxas Blvd and Rizal Park also flooded? The place where we walked on that fine Sunday afternoon was flooded? Gosh!!! Can't imagine it! How about Intramuros? Also flooded? And Binondo?

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  3. Pity you had to endure the rain! Yes they should have made the announcement earlier - would have saved you lots of trouble! And also save your umbrella!

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  4. Diamond

    As usual po. Baha na naman sa Manila.

    Foong

    Correct! You made the right decision. If you visited Manila this month, I bet that you will not enjoy your trip here. You will see the devastation wrought by typhoons that frequent the Philippines during this part of the year.

    Yes, Rizal Park and Roxas Blvd was flooded. I think that Intramuros is safe because it is located at a much higher ground. Binondo is also safe from the storm surge. There are floods on some streets of Binondo but that is due to faulty drainage systems.

    You are right Foong. But some government officials are too lazy to serve the people.

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  5. Good thing i'm on my 4 days off before and after Pedring. Hassle ang byahe nun for sure, praise God we're all safe!

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  6. So glad you are alright. Saw the news on TV - it certainly was terrible in some places. Can't blame anybody - Nature's wrath... Getting more and more frequent. I think people would just have to pray harder for God's compassion and mercy.

    We used to get floods very often here - a few times in a year...and people blamed the government. Then there was some flood-mitigation work done to rectify the problem and now we have a HUGE dam for electricity - and floods never occur anymore...and often the water level in the river is very low...and the people blame the government. It's always easy to blame others... Some people say that is the Third World mentality - different from reactions e.g. the Australians in the Brisbane floods ot the New Zealanders in the Christchurch earthquakes.

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  7. Almost 2 days kami walng kuryente! Grabe ang hirap. Pero di namn bumabaha dito sa lugar namin. May parating na naman daw na bagyo. Ano ba yan!

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