General Info

[Goferring]

There was an outage, decades ago, in the USA where the eastern half of the country lost power for some days....

I remember when FB went down for an hour or two and half the planet lost their minds. 😁.

[Barney Rubber]

There was an outage, decades ago, in the USA where the eastern half of the country lost power for some days. Cell phones, a new item then, all went down, whereas the old landlines kept functioning.

Then again, I got stuck in San Francisco, though I didn't live there, during the Loma Prieta "World Series" earthquake of 1989. By city policy, all electricity was immediately shut off. I could not buy gas to drive home. At the same time, every block had a warden to go around making sure that all gas powered appliances had the gas valve turned off. SF was more afraid of fire than of aftershock.

CBEA: you just brought back memories. I also was stuck in that San Fran quake in the late '80's. Stuck at the Marriott by the airport just as the World Series started! It was a pain in the ass to get back to LA.had to go over to Oakland and fly back through Vegas! Glad you made it out!

[Albert9989]

More recent reports say the toll is approaching 400. I have read reports about highest casualties in Bohol, and maybe Cebu second. I was surprised about this, because the map shows it was a category 5 when it hit Siargao and the southern tip of Leyte, then diminished somewhat to a 3 or 4 by the time it hit Bohol. Maybe the result of higher population density in Bohol, but the photos from Siargao are horrendous.

Yes I saw the reports, numbers are increasing, and could increase again.

It was a strong hit.

[Soapy Smith]

Another explanation is that Bohol and Cebu may not have heeded evacuation orders as seriously. Many of the 6,000 plus deaths from Yolanda, centered in Tacloban, were because squatters near the Leyte Gulf waterfront did not evacuate when they should have. In part, the city didn't effectively carry out evacuation orders and many waterfront squatters may not have taken it seriously. The tidal surge was huge, washing right through the airport terminal and knocking out the control tower. I have video and photos of three Chinese freighters that were washed up on shore nearly 200 meters.

A few local governments have been exemplary in their preparedness and mitigation activities, others are far behind the curve.

[Soapy Smith]

Yes, the impact is for mzny regions from siargao to north Palawan, and Bohol seems to be the most severely hitten.

Now they say 208 deaths globally but the count is increasing every day. 73 for only Bohol at this time.

Its really a huge impact and we or they still don't know the final count.

More recent reports say the toll is approaching 400. I have read reports about highest casualties in Bohol, and maybe Cebu second. I was surprised about this, because the map shows it was a category 5 when it hit Siargao and the southern tip of Leyte, then diminished somewhat to a 3 or 4 by the time it hit Bohol. Maybe the result of higher population density in Bohol, but the photos from Siargao are horrendous.

[Soapy Smith]

There was an outage, decades ago, in the USA where the eastern half of the country lost power for some days. Cell phones, a new item then, all went down, whereas the old landlines kept functioning.

I remember it well. It was especially centered on New York City. The cause was a major transmission line from upstate New York, perhaps from the Buffalo area or the St. Lawrence Seaway hydroelectric generators. Phone lines would not have been affected, except for those systems that got their power from that transmission line.

[Soapy Smith]

There she was, vaccine dripping slowly from her, clitting herself to heaven. Shame on me. Have I violated my medical / ethical standards?

Yes, poor bedside manner. You left her struggling after your procedure, because it appears she felt the procedure was not complete.

[Beavis]

Nothing has been openly stated about anything changing towards entry to the Philippines but something is going on. The public has been kept in the dark but everywhere you look businesses are working to reopen. The California Hotel in AC has been closed for a long time but they are preparing to reopen, several of the closed bars in AC and Subic are working to open again. A huge casino with a 400 room Hotel just opened on Clark, all we have is speculation at this point but since the pandemic everything has been at a standstill or complete shutdown. Now all of a sudden there is lots of activity. The Casino is Korean owned like much of AC but it wasn't built for retired expats. Inquiring minds want to know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90GFRKeub8&t=102s.

[Cbea20]

There was an outage, decades ago, in the USA where the eastern half of the country lost power for some days. Cell phones, a new item then, all went down, whereas the old landlines kept functioning.

Then again, I got stuck in San Francisco, though I didn't live there, during the Loma Prieta "World Series" earthquake of 1989. By city policy, all electricity was immediately shut off. I could not buy gas to drive home. At the same time, every block had a warden to go around making sure that all gas powered appliances had the gas valve turned off. SF was more afraid of fire than of aftershock.

I'm replying to the general forum as it apples to everywhere not just Bohol:

It's standard practice when a known natural disaster is approaching to disconnect all services and utilities. The authorities are aware of the additional damage that can be done by fallen live power lines, water ingress into substations etc so they do this as a precautionary measure. These are restored when a particular trunk line or area is known to be clear or undamaged. It's not at all unusual for remote areas to have power etc disconnected for weeks.

[DzikaBomba]

Off the typhoon topic.

Philippine Airlines sent me a e mail stating hotel names plus quarantine prices for 7 days through March 2022. Also there is a schedule for flights to various countries. They will supply free three meals a day during quarantine if you fly with them from North American departure cities. I did not see any recent regulations mentioning quarantine till March in Philippine government website. Has there been a decision on this? Maybe they informed PAL about re opening with quarantine and testing.

Selling Tickets and actually flying are two different things.

We all (or most of us) had this already.

You book the flight, they later cancel it and then you have to wait 6 Months or more for your money refund.

Its a free credit for the Airline.

[Engine Driver]

Every year, for the past 10,000 years, the Philippines has been hit with Typhoons at about this time, give or take a few weeks.

So why the fuck did they look all surprised when the typhoon hit this year? Don't they plan ahead? Like have a store of water, food and medical supplies in advance? Perhaps they could tie stuff down, get rid of rubbish and screw down the roof properly before the typhoon season. Just as night will follow day, a typhoon will hit again at this time next year and they will look all surprised again.

[Sammon]

Off the typhoon topic.

Philippine Airlines sent me a e mail stating hotel names plus quarantine prices for 7 days through March 2022. Also there is a schedule for flights to various countries. They will supply free three meals a day during quarantine if you fly with them from North American departure cities. I did not see any recent regulations mentioning quarantine till March in Philippine government website. Has there been a decision on this? Maybe they informed PAL about re opening with quarantine and testing.

[WestCoast1]

I'm replying to the general forum as it apples to everywhere not just Bohol:

It's standard practice when a known natural disaster is approaching to disconnect all services and utilities. The authorities are aware of the additional damage that can be done by fallen live power lines, water ingress into substations etc so they do this as a precautionary measure. These are restored when a particular trunk line or area is known to be clear or undamaged. It's not at all unusual for remote areas to have power etc disconnected for weeks.

In one of my regular haunt provinces, every time there is a major storm that floods things out, all the restaurants (including Mcdo and Jollie) stop selling soda for 3-5 days. They get their water from underground wells that get stirred up from the storm, full of dirt and visible particles. Many locals also are without usable running water for baths and washing clothes for a few days. It is SOP there.

[Albert9989]

Yes, the impact is for mzny regions from siargao to north Palawan, and Bohol seems to be the most severely hitten.

Now they say 208 deaths globally but the count is increasing every day. 73 for only Bohol at this time.

Its really a huge impact and we or they still don't know the final count.

[Goferring]

Yeah. Not just power but cell tower side thus internet still down. Hard to travel to places with power or working cell tower or telecom infrastructure.....

Don't know how they posted so some places must be up with telecom infrastructure.

I'm replying to the general forum as it apples to everywhere not just Bohol:

It's standard practice when a known natural disaster is approaching to disconnect all services and utilities. The authorities are aware of the additional damage that can be done by fallen live power lines, water ingress into substations etc so they do this as a precautionary measure. These are restored when a particular trunk line or area is known to be clear or undamaged. It's not at all unusual for remote areas to have power etc disconnected for weeks.