Here comes the rain again: Glenda out, Henry in

posted yesterday on Instagram

Typhoon "Glenda" (code name Rammasum) came and went. It was a 'fast' typhoon. As early as 3:00 am, I woke up with the sound of the winds howling, my wind chime going crazy and potted plants toppled down my balcony.

It was definitely a strong typhoon with sustained winds of 185 kph and gustiness of 230 kph. A report the day before said that "[It is] the strongest storm to threaten the country since Yolanda, a category-five super typhoon that wiped out nearly everything in its path when it crossed the central Philippines... On its current path, it will also be the first to score a direct hit on Manila in at least four years."

I posted a photo on instagram showing the aftermath of Glenda (clockwise from the top) Manila Bay, flooding infront of La Salle Greenhills in my hood, a tree crushed a parked toyota in Magallanes Village and the side of the newly-built Glorietta 5 peeled off.

avocado tree gone (photo via @RocaCruz)

Before noon, the winds started to die down as Glenda moved towards Zambales and eventually exited the country. Fortunately, not much rain was dumped in the city but the winds knocked down several trees, including century old trees even electricity pole lines. In fact, in our house, the trees in the backyard were knocked down including the giant avocado tree I planted ages ago. :-(

century-old tree in front of Kalayaan Hall in Malacañang Palace uprooted (photo via @willliardcheng)

a giant tree crushed a home in Quezon City

Right now, dark clouds are looming. There is a new weather disturbance brewing in the South Pacific and according to the US Joint Typhoon Watch Center, this may intensify into another tropical storm within the next 24 hours and will be called "Henry" (international code name "Matmo'). The system has maximum sustained winds of 130 kph and gusts of up to 160 kph.

Robert Speta of Western Pacific Weather warned that the model outlook "indicate a tropic storm possibly following the same track as Rammasun, with the same steering dynamics in place this would not be very far fetched."

Meantime, I'm going to charge my battery packs and keep praying that the storm steers up northward.