| When you live in a tropical country the only seasons you’ll ever experience are the excruciating heat of summer or the raging personalities of every tropical typhoon that makes landfall whenever part of the Philippines. The later part of the season is where many locals show their survival or even the resilience to push on.
Recently tropical cyclone Vamco (local name: Ulysses) made its arrival it’s unlike the previous one that devastated a province, but it a sure reminder of the past super typhoons that made short work of a town or a city. It wasn’t terrible in some parts of the country, but for those who caught the eye of the storm it’s a hurdle that everyone would never want to experience and yet it is difficult and so sorry to those affected. |
The Central Business District of Makati didn’t get much of the brunt of Vamco, but it left some parts of the city in disarray and exposed some of the places that lack actual safety hazards or nearby pedestrian or native of this city. There are no words but certainly, pictures can give you an idea of how powerful the typhoon was.
As of this writing, Vamco is leaving the Philippine area of responsibility. It was a reminder of the past and what people should need to improve the safety of the greater community that has not to change in almost two decades.
Recalling back then when I was working on a night shift at a nearby BPO I had a similar point of view about Vamco. In fact back in 2006 (Milenyo) when I was stranded in the office on the seventeenth floor as some of the fellow colleagues experience those strong winds and how they ravaged through the city.
Being stranded at home in 2009 (Milenyo) was a fortunate situation like this year. But heading back to Manila from Cebu in 2012 (Pablo) was the right timing before it made landfall. But for those living in Mindanao was unfortunate as recounted previously in March 2013.
There were trees that were rooted out from their places and too many leaves on the street. The nearby construction site exposed its stingy safety measures on the main corner where people can get hurt. Obviously, this is a Makati City Government project, and they are wooden framed with vinyl coverings were like thin paper wrapping some toothpicks when the store came exposing how their so called “Makati City Builds” campaign doesn’t really value safety not even actual barriers where in place.
Walking through the main avenue of Ayala leaves are everywhere and some fallen trees. It feels like a weekend where not much crowd insight. It’s not bad as you think it is when you think of the provinces that caught the brunt of the storm.
It was good that the strong winds have slowly dissipated, but the aftermath in picking up the pieces is certainly a rough experience to get through. But the locals are resilient when it comes to this. This morning was really tough for most of those who had their homes flooded and the power went out in some areas. I’m grateful we’re just safe while Vamco was ripping everything apart.
By the time I got to the commercial district of the city the shopping centres were open, but the majority of the stores have remained closed. It reminded me of when I was too early to get into Westfield Marion, where almost all the shops were closed with the exception of Woolies that opened at 7 AM.
I didn’t go around that much after I went to Landmark to buy groceries. There were people but it felt like the city was on lockdown going back to March. But this time because of the typhoon that some are either remained closed or slowly opening up. It was a rough day for most but surely I’m optimistic things will turn out. Hope you’re safe whenever you are too.
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