Post by jo on Sept 19, 2014 7:54:22 GMT -5
I thought that living here in the infamous ring of fire ( volcanic eruptions and earthquakes with some frequency) and the typhoon belt of the Pacific that we have experienced everything 
But today, everything that could happen happened
*Last week, we were in the path of another tropical typhoon and as this has been a regular occurrence to us, we simply suffered through the difficulties of a major weather disturbance - loss of lives and property and dislocation of our daily routine.
*But last week we were also put on alert that our world-famous volcano ( for its nearly perfect cone shape, with many tourists saying it puts the shape of Mt.Fuji a little on the shade when it comes to the elegance of shape) called Mayon has started showing strong volcanic activity, with magma rising to the top! During evenings many onlookers were amazed to see the glowing fire of the lava spewing out of the crater and rushing down, but in only small quantities, the stuff which attracts many tourists. What a sight! ( I've seen it on TV). But evacuation had already started as the area close to the volcano became a danger zone.
*In the last two or so days, we were told that another typhoon was on the way, but hopefully will bear little damage since landfall may not happen and it if did it would pass more on our northernmost shores ( and head to Taiwan or other countries in the north). What we did not pay too much attention to was that a strong tropical monsoon will accompany that weather system and this will strike us right here in Metro Manila and neighboring areas.
I woke up in the wee hours because the rain was coming down so hard it sounded like a herd of cattle stampeding on our roof! I got up and checked whether this might affect our power supply ( as it might happen) and checked my computer and the TV in my room. All working well!
In less than an hour the loudest-sounding and most ground-shaking thunderclap I have ever heard in my life made me shudder and blink my eyes from fright!
After calming down, I checked stuff around again! My laptop was down ( even if the broadband connection seemed to be alright)...Later on, I was told that our refrigerator lost its AVR power...and later on, that the car battery ( which was newly bought) got discharged. Arghh... my knowledge of science was not adequate enough to explain what happened, but I was theorizing that it had something to do with the impact of the thunder and which may have left us with an electrically-charged atmosphere.
Then the news that we were on a "red-rainfall alert" -- that flash floods were imminent. Fortunately, this was not in our area but the emerging images of waist-deep water on main streets elsewhere, 20-meter water levels for towns by river sides, swelling of rivers, forced evacuations, overspilling dams, suspension of many normal activities including declarations of states of calamity for some major cities/towns, etc, became normal news! Rescue and relief operations followed...and while things seemed to have improved a little this evening, the winds were still very strong and the flash floods were still coming fast. We went out to lunch...and saw gutter-level flooding on one of the main streets on the way to lunch...to be followed by almost knee-deep levels 2 hours later ...and going to the thigh-high level after another hour ( because it was near a heavily swollen creek)!
Many flights were cancelled or diverted but one of the major reasons was because the super-thunder brought down the main radar in the international airport!
When a friend looked at what was wrong with my laptop ( not working!), it was discovered that the power supply had also suffered an electrical power-down problem - also because of that incredibly frightening thunderclap by the Roman God Mars aka Ares in ancient Greece
... We thought the router conked out - but I was complaining that it was quite new! It was the power supply attachment which had burnt out!!
I also heard other incredible stories about how one thunderclap toyed with science's most modern gadgets!
My laptop is now back ( after we had to replace the power supply attachment ) and I am now narrating this day's experience with nature's fury!
What about our volcano? It seems that the heavy rain might have cooled down the lava for a while ( it still has molten lava underneath) coming out of the crater...and we were hoping there will be no lahar flooding. At the bottom of the slope - there were no lava rocks - instead there was a flood at the foot of the majestic mountain smiley-rolleyes010
Nature had certainly played with us today!
But nature also showed a kinder side -- not one branch was broken or too many leaves fallen from the large flower-bearing trees on our yard --they were left unharmed unlike in other typhoon encounters...and the new flower spikes on my phalaenopsis orchids were still there and ready to amaze us in a month or so
Jo
But today, everything that could happen happened
*Last week, we were in the path of another tropical typhoon and as this has been a regular occurrence to us, we simply suffered through the difficulties of a major weather disturbance - loss of lives and property and dislocation of our daily routine.
*But last week we were also put on alert that our world-famous volcano ( for its nearly perfect cone shape, with many tourists saying it puts the shape of Mt.Fuji a little on the shade when it comes to the elegance of shape) called Mayon has started showing strong volcanic activity, with magma rising to the top! During evenings many onlookers were amazed to see the glowing fire of the lava spewing out of the crater and rushing down, but in only small quantities, the stuff which attracts many tourists. What a sight! ( I've seen it on TV). But evacuation had already started as the area close to the volcano became a danger zone.
*In the last two or so days, we were told that another typhoon was on the way, but hopefully will bear little damage since landfall may not happen and it if did it would pass more on our northernmost shores ( and head to Taiwan or other countries in the north). What we did not pay too much attention to was that a strong tropical monsoon will accompany that weather system and this will strike us right here in Metro Manila and neighboring areas.
I woke up in the wee hours because the rain was coming down so hard it sounded like a herd of cattle stampeding on our roof! I got up and checked whether this might affect our power supply ( as it might happen) and checked my computer and the TV in my room. All working well!
In less than an hour the loudest-sounding and most ground-shaking thunderclap I have ever heard in my life made me shudder and blink my eyes from fright!
After calming down, I checked stuff around again! My laptop was down ( even if the broadband connection seemed to be alright)...Later on, I was told that our refrigerator lost its AVR power...and later on, that the car battery ( which was newly bought) got discharged. Arghh... my knowledge of science was not adequate enough to explain what happened, but I was theorizing that it had something to do with the impact of the thunder and which may have left us with an electrically-charged atmosphere.
Then the news that we were on a "red-rainfall alert" -- that flash floods were imminent. Fortunately, this was not in our area but the emerging images of waist-deep water on main streets elsewhere, 20-meter water levels for towns by river sides, swelling of rivers, forced evacuations, overspilling dams, suspension of many normal activities including declarations of states of calamity for some major cities/towns, etc, became normal news! Rescue and relief operations followed...and while things seemed to have improved a little this evening, the winds were still very strong and the flash floods were still coming fast. We went out to lunch...and saw gutter-level flooding on one of the main streets on the way to lunch...to be followed by almost knee-deep levels 2 hours later ...and going to the thigh-high level after another hour ( because it was near a heavily swollen creek)!
Many flights were cancelled or diverted but one of the major reasons was because the super-thunder brought down the main radar in the international airport!
When a friend looked at what was wrong with my laptop ( not working!), it was discovered that the power supply had also suffered an electrical power-down problem - also because of that incredibly frightening thunderclap by the Roman God Mars aka Ares in ancient Greece
... We thought the router conked out - but I was complaining that it was quite new! It was the power supply attachment which had burnt out!!I also heard other incredible stories about how one thunderclap toyed with science's most modern gadgets!
My laptop is now back ( after we had to replace the power supply attachment ) and I am now narrating this day's experience with nature's fury!
What about our volcano? It seems that the heavy rain might have cooled down the lava for a while ( it still has molten lava underneath) coming out of the crater...and we were hoping there will be no lahar flooding. At the bottom of the slope - there were no lava rocks - instead there was a flood at the foot of the majestic mountain smiley-rolleyes010
Nature had certainly played with us today!
But nature also showed a kinder side -- not one branch was broken or too many leaves fallen from the large flower-bearing trees on our yard --they were left unharmed unlike in other typhoon encounters...and the new flower spikes on my phalaenopsis orchids were still there and ready to amaze us in a month or so
Jo
