[SkyWatch] Skies after the Storm

These sky images I captured today may look pretty so-so to you, but to those of us here in the Philippines who just got battered by yet another hellish typhoon the past days, the blue and white is heavenly.

Manila, 2011

After billboards caused serious injury to man and property during a typhoon last year it was decreed that billboard canopies be rolled up before the high winds rolled in. 

While I stayed safely under cover in my home, inconvenienced only by a 20-hour cut to internet access in my area, other photographers far braver than I captured the havoc. 

The city is quickly being cleaned up, but sigh, the blue skies may be short-lived. We are bracing for another storm predicted to land on the weekend. So if you don't see me online...

 
I'm linking with SkyWatch Friday.

Wild Winds. Broken Branches.

When I was driving on the highway into Makati yesterday evening and saw gigantic tarpaulin billboards being brought down I knew we were in for a stormy night. At least a few times a year, Manila is in the direct path of a typhoon and close to midnight last night it was Basyang (internationally named Coson) that brought havoc to trees and darkness to the city.

We've experienced much worse typhoons, but it never fails to break my heart to see the damage to plants and trees. These first two photos show the street I live on at 7 am:

Metro Manila, July 14, 2010

I came back out on the street at noon and was amazed by how much had already been cleaned up just by the residents - or rather by their house-help. You can see even the kids chip in:

So I took my camera and went for a walk down the street. This is what I saw when I turned left at the next street:

These boys were pulling at a tree limb that was being hacked by a machete:

We had had no power since shortly after midnight, so at this point I thought perhaps one of the lines in our village (subdivision) was down:

Later I learned the entire city and even a large part of the Luzon province was powerless.

To break the monotony of being in a still home, not being able to work or play, we went to the nearby commercial area to have some lunch. Many more branches had been broken and even some trees had been uprooted entirely:

We did not venture far, but I would guess all over the city there were crews hard at work clearing the streets to make them drivable again. This crew was happy to take a small break to give me their brilliant smiles to let me know that life goes on:

And you know, it does. At 9 pm we got our power back. And for me it meant getting back to work.

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