Tropical Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda about to slam the Phillipines

Some facts from the USA Today story:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/11/07/super-typhoon-philippines/3468165/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/07/philippines-typhoon/3465779/

I have a vested interest in this, as my Dad and stepmom are currently over there (my dad works in the oil & gas industry). They are on the southwest coast, but still in the direct path.

I got an email from my stepmom this morning saying they would probably lose power for an extended period. Biggest issue with that is my dad sleeps with a CPAP machine.

Anyway, fingers crossed.

 

Scary stuff. Best of luck to your family, Steak.

 

What part of the Phillipines, Steak?

Spent 3-plus years there, including weathering a typhoon. A Cat 5 like that would flatten any place, much less villages and such where nipa huts and other bamboo setups are omnipresent. And in more mountainous regions in Luzon - can't speak for the Visayas or Mindanao - mud slides could also be an issue.

All the best ... to Steak's family and everyone else there.

 

They're in Batangas City. Still getting periodic emails, so everything's OK there as of this hour.

 

OK ... not too far south of Manila/Quezon City on Luzon. (Went there one weekend when my other and her friend were getting their SCUBA certification from PADI ... also got the worst sunburn of my life ... ) Stories have it that the Visayas got the brunt of it.

Bad for anyone to go through this, but relieved to hear your loved ones seem to be OK. Obviously, we hope that's the case.

 

Got an another email from my stepmom. They got buckets of rain, but never lost power. Dad's jobsite got shut down for the weekend. Flooding and mudslides are still a concern, but looks like they dodged the worst of it.

 

That's great new, Steak.

 

Glad to hear it, Steak.

 

Add me to the "glad to hear it" list.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

one of the strongest storms recorded on the planet

 

Wow. 1,200 dead.

 

Interesting breakdown here, plus a video at the end showing the wind and storm surge at landfall.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2574