Gone With The Wind- Metro grounds to a halt as Milenyo hits the Philippines

I was supposed to go to an underwater hockey practice last night after work at The Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, a city just adjacent Makati where I currently live. At around 6AM, I received a text message from one of my bosses not to come as Malacañang suspended work in government offices, agencies and schools in the National Capital Region as Metro Manila anticipates Typhoon Milenyo (the Tagalog word for Millenium- internationally codenamed Xangsane). The day before that, I was calmly discussing the storm with my bosses over lunch saying that according to the CNN report that day, Milenyo would pass through Metro Manila directly within 48 hours. Since Filipinos are kinda used to bad weather forecasts, I kinda shrugged off the report and thought that if indeed this was a big storm, it wont be as bad as the first 12 storms that hit the country this year.

At 9-10 AM, winds were already whistling outside, and it sounded like the queerest of sounds, it almost like the rumbling of jackhammer and an oncoming train combined. As the wind intensified, power went out. The wind raged on furiously and it reminded me of being near a tornado back in 1998 during my grandfather's funeral.

At 1PM-2PM, the winds and rain lashed its fury on the hapless Metro, and from my room window, I could see roofsheets being blown away. Power is still out. Worse still, my Globe phone battery went out, my Smart mobile phone lost signal.  Great.

I have been through similarly destructive typhoons before but I thought I never heard such horrifying sounds of wind outside my window - its like being inside a washing machine! I wouldnt want to be out in the streets during this time. Today as I checked out the papers, I was astonished to see big trucks overturned, age-old trees uprooted, windows smashed, and billboards (I think they should be banned from now on) toppling over because of the awesome winds.

Power is still out in my area, and I am writing this blog in an internet cafe nearby. Some of the ATM connections are not working- Good thing I have 2 ATMs (I dispensed my Credit Card a long time ago, after racking a whooping PhP 70,000 expenses), and I havent collected my paycheck because there is no work in the bank I work for.

Oh well, it's another queer, difficult day in the Metro. It's all fun, and I'm still playing underwater hockey tomorrow.