Rory, I just heard a typhoon hit the Philippines - Manilla I hope you are doing well.

Dear CD, I must admit the typhoon scared the s**t out of me. The winds and rains were way too strong and powerful. Our condominium compound is like a catchbasin for floods, so my Dad and I ended up getting trapped on the fourth floor. Luckily, my Dad had the presence of mind to bring up the four stray cats he was taking care of in the garage. Those living on the first floor had to move up to escape the rising water, so we had people in the hallways. There was a scary moment when the electric post a couple of meters away from my bedroom window started swaying because of the strong winds. Luckily, the maintenance men managed to secure it with ropes and wooden planks. Otherwise, it would have broken through my window, and I might have been electrocuted. It's still raining right now, but at least the winds have finally died down. Feel terribly sad about the ferry that sank though. Close to 700 lives lost, and all because a moron decided to permit the ship to set sail in stormy seas. Thanks for your well wishes, CD!

I'm glad to hear you're okay, Rory, and your Dad is now my hero (well, him and the maintenance men). As for the ferry, what a horrible tragedy!

Oh my, I am glad you're ok! I'll definitely keep the storm victims' families in my thoughts and prayers...

Glad to hear you and your family are safe Rory. Sorry to hear about the deaths, though.

It was a stupid move for them to allow a ferry out in a typhoon like that... I"m glad to hear you came out of it alright.

Talking about water and floods, next week will be a year since parts of Britian, mainely the North and the south of the Midlands were hit by floods and in a part of Yorkshire, it was the second flooding in seven years and she had to pay a huge amount to fix up her house and she's thinking of moving.

Originally posted by Metaliant Talking about water and floods, next week will be a year since parts of Britian, mainely the North and the south of the Midlands were hit by floods and in a part of Yorkshire, it was the second flooding in seven years and she had to pay a huge amount to fix up her house and she's thinking of moving.

I was on vacation in Northern England almost exactly a year ago. I remember seeing news stories about the flooding, and I remember walking down a street in Ripon that, just a couple days earlier, had all been flooded and people were pulling ruined couches, beds etc. out of their homes.

Originally posted by Metaliant Talking about water and floods, next week will be a year since parts of Britian, mainely the North and the south of the Midlands were hit by floods and in a part of Yorkshire, it was the second flooding in seven years and she had to pay a huge amount to fix up her house and she's thinking of moving.

Did you miss part of you story Met. Who had to pay a huge amount to fix up her house?

Oops, sorry CD, a woman living in a part of Yorkshire which had 2 floodings in 7 years, and she was fed up paying a huge amount of money to pay for the repairs and she's thinking of leaving to move somewhere that's not on a flood plain.

Originally posted by lborgia88 I'm glad to hear you're okay, Rory, and your Dad is now my hero (well, him and the maintenance men). As for the ferry, what a horrible tragedy!

Actually, I was the one who ordered him to get the cats. My Dad's a rather lazy guy who'd want someone else to do stuff for him. I'd do it myself, but I just came from being sick. Rather than risk my being sent to the hospital again, he went down to get the cats.

Originally posted by Springie Oh my, I am glad you're ok! I'll definitely keep the storm victims' families in my thoughts and prayers...

Thanks, Springie! I was watching the news last night and they showed the sunken ferry still sticking out of the water. I feel so sad, thinking of the people that were trapped in there.

Originally posted by clouddancer Glad to hear you and your family are safe Rory. Sorry to hear about the deaths, though.

I'm pretty thankful that we got out of that typhoon safe and sound. I have a real bad phobia for typhoons having been caught right smack in the middle of one while still doing duty in the hospital. The deaths from the ferry and flash floods were terrible. I'm still hoping that rescuers could still find the bodies so that even their mortal remains would be reunited with their loved ones. But it seems impossible. According to an interview with the mayor of the city where the ferry sank, there's a terrible stink coming from the sunken boat.

Originally posted by Ebonyswanne I was a stupid move for them to allow a ferry out in a typhoon like that... I"m glad to hear you came out of it alright.

You'll be very happy to know that the ferry company's license to operate was suspended while authorities are investigating the tragedy. If you go through the history of ship tragedies in my country, the WORST ship sinking incidents involved ferries/boats owned by this company. It's about time authorities looked into the policies of this company.

Rory, I'm so glad that you, your dad, and the cats are ok! Having lived through 6 hurricanes (typhoons) myself, I know how scary an experience it can be! So sad about the ferry boat. Why on earth would anyone go onto any sea vessel when a powerful storm is coming? I never understood that. Then again, where I used to live, people were told to leave the barrier islands before the winds sustained at 50mph, which is when the bridges would close. People would stay, then, after the hurricane passed, would complain they had no way off the islands....

Rory glad to hear that you and your family (including the cats) are safe. Prayers to the families of the lives lost in the ferry.

Originally posted by Hinotori Rory, I'm so glad that you, your dad, and the cats are ok! Having lived through 6 hurricanes (typhoons) myself, I know how scary an experience it can be! So sad about the ferry boat. Why on earth would anyone go onto any sea vessel when a powerful storm is coming? I never understood that. Then again, where I used to live, people were told to leave the barrier islands before the winds sustained at 50mph, which is when the bridges would close. People would stay, then, after the hurricane passed, would complain they had no way off the islands....

Yes, what happened to the MV Princess of the Stars is truly lamentable. Actually, it wasn't just the ferry boat that I had issues with. Philippine Airlines did not suspend flights until they discovered that they could not arrive at their points of destination. Thank God no plane crashed. The Philippines being a typhoon-prone country, one would think that authorities would have the common sense to suspend both boats and planes from going out. Anyway, we're all fine. The cats just stole one big fish from the fridge and are now feasting on it. It was supposed to be our lunch...the little buggers! Grrr!

Originally posted by Hinotori Rory, I'm so glad that you, your dad, and the cats are ok! Having lived through 6 hurricanes (typhoons) myself, I know how scary an experience it can be! So sad about the ferry boat. Why on earth would anyone go onto any sea vessel when a powerful storm is coming? I never understood that. Then again, where I used to live, people were told to leave the barrier islands before the winds sustained at 50mph, which is when the bridges would close. People would stay, then, after the hurricane passed, would complain they had no way off the islands....

I watched a show the other day where, years ago, an airplane crashed because the pilots were not given updated information about an approaching storm. Now the FAA have insisted all planes have systems on their planes that are in contact with the Weather Service so they can have detailed information on approaching storms. Anyways my point is, perhaps that is not something boating companies MUSt have. Maybe the Captain of the ship was not watching the weather so did not know he should not leave port.

I am glad to hear that you are safe, Rory!