Typhoon Bopha (Pablo) Catagory 5 Super Typhoon Heading for the Philippines

Update:

8:20am Local Time as of this Post.

We are 60km west of Barobo. about 60 to 80km north of the eye.

The wind has jumped up where we were to 100mph or more in Gusts. The rain has been limited, but we just had a downpour that last about 30 min.

Power Out
Cable Out
Lots of downed Trees
Roof and building debris everywhere.

We think we have another hour or two until it passes us, then we will go out on the motorcycles and check out the damage. Will try to take pics.

Boro

Here are some local links to follow from post earlier.

Boro

Was just checking the Satellite and it look like right now is about as close as the Eye will get to us.
It is howling outside. Gusts have to be at the 120mph mark now.

Boro

thanks for keeping the outside updated :)

Thank you Boro, better live reporting here than MSN.

Boro, what are you using for power for your posts here?

Hi Thanks for the comments.

I have two 2k watt ups systems. Each can run the PC's, network, Sat TV and lights for about three days.
Then I have a 5k watt genset hooked up if needed. I am running the genset now just to keep things charged.

I have three internet providers.

1 of three just went down a few minutes ago, so had to switch to ISP 2.

The wind is just crazy. This is way stronger than Sendong a year ago.

Boro

for Boro!

BORO,Stay safe bro.

Well, I may disappear soon.

My second and third ISP's are starting to show signs of decay. So if you don't hear from me, It just means the ISP's bit the dust.

We are doing fine otherwise. The winds are starting to die down a bit. I think we are back to 80 to 100mph gusts.
whew....

Will do my best to keep posting.

Boro

MSM reporting on this is very weak

Just checked the Satellite.

Looks like the eye is just getting past us. Maybe one more hour and the winds should die way down.

Boro

Yea I know. I am monitoring local TV and Radio and other than warnings, no coverage of live whats happening.
But I can't blame them. No one is outside right now.

Boro

Update:

9:45 Local time as of this post.

Wow, just all of the sudden, like someone hit a light switch, everything just died down.

Winds have dropped to just 10 to 30mph gusts and we just have a light rain now.

Satellite says it has past and is now on the way to Cagayan De Oro. Prey for them.

Debris everywhere.
Power out
Cable out

1 of three ISP's down

We made it, here anyway.

Should start seeing first reports of damage on news here soon.

We are going to go out on the motorcycles and check out how our little town did in this event.

Will post some pics later.

Boro

Bopha Fett

Cam in Cebu City

[link to www.ustream.tv]

They should rename it Typhoon Paul.

Just when you thought it was serious it gave out and folded.

This storm went from cat 3 to cat 5 super typhoon just before making landfall.

Here on Mactan Island, just off the coast of Cebu, the winds are blowing a little bit, but nothing to be concerned about. Rain is on and off, but nothing to be concerned about.

its good to hear you are ok Boro keep us posted on the damage

Update and last post for this thread:

5:40pm local time as of this post.

Everything is calm here now.

Went out and took a tour of the town. Very little damage. mostly just tree branches and plants everywhere.

Power came on for a few minutes, then went out again. They were likely just testing.

Not hearing anything of death or injury. Good News.

Hope everyone north and west fares as well.

Did not take any pics as there was nothing to really show.

Until next time, signing off

Boro.

Breaking News Storm‏@breakingstorm

Update: Typhoon Bopha has killed 6 people across the Philippines; causes power cuts and flooding - AAP [link to DON'T_USE-THIS]

Surigao del Sur under a state of calamity

MANILA, Philippines – Surigao del Sur has been placed in a state of calamity following nearly 12 hours of strong winds and heavy rains brought by typhoon “Pablo”.

Governor Johnny Pimentel said some of the towns hit by massive floods are Hinatuan, Lingig, Bislig City, Tagbina, Barobo, Lianga, San Agustin, Marihatag, Tandag City and Carrascal.

More than 33,000 residents have fled their homes, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

They are now staying in 35 evacuation centers in the province.

Almost the entire province of Surigao del Sur is also without electricity.

"I would say that this is one of the strongest typhoon na na-experience namin dito sa Surigao del Sur," Pimentel earlier told dzMM.

Pablo (international codename: "Bopha") made landfall in Baganga, Davao Oriental Tuesday morning, and was packing maximum sustained winds of 160 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 195 kph.

A total of 46 areas are under storm signals. The typhoon has already claimed 6 lives, according to the NDRRMC

‘Pablo’ disrupts Globe Telecom service in Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon

MANILA, Philippines – Globe Telecom has announced service interruption in some areas in Mindanao due to strong winds and heavy rains brought by typhoon Pablo (international name Bopha).
The interruption Tuesday noon was due to optical fiber cuts in the areas of Davao City, Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon.
“Subscribers in these areas will temporarily experience difficulties sending and receiving text messages, making calls or connecting to the Internet,” Globe said on its Twitter account.
“Globe assures its subscribers that service restoration is ongoing. We’ll issue another advisory when services are fully restored,” it also said.

Storm surge spawned by typhoon ‘Pablo’ hits Catanduanes

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines —-A storm surge as high as six meters hit the shorelines of Catanduanes on Tuesday, preventing passenger vessels from docking in the Virac port, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Bicol said.
MV Eugenia, a passenger vessel plying the Virac-Tabaco routes, was forced to return to Tabaco City in Albay due to the big waves battering Virac port in Catanduanes, said Bernardo Alejandro, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) regional director and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) chairperson.
Alejandro said the Coast Guard in Virac port had to order the ship captain of MV Eugenia to return to the Tabaco port after big waves spawned by the gale force prevailed at the Virac port.
Quoting an initial report from the Catandaunes PDRRMC, Alejandro said the storm surge hit around 25 coastal villages in the towns of Virac, Bato, Baras and Gigmoto.
The report said strong waves forced seawater to encroach into major highways in these area.
The Coast Guard report said 682 passengers were stranded while 19 trucks, 15 buses, seven cars, and four sea vessels were also grounded in the ports of Matnog, Bulan and Pilar in Sorsogon; Pio Duran in Albay; and Cataingan in Masbate.

Pablo is on Cebu Radar. [link to noah.dost.gov.ph]

Updated: Tuesday, 04 December, 2012 at 09:43 UTC
Description
The Philippines's strongest typhoon so far this year has forced more than 41,000 people from their homes as it pounds southern provinces cutting power, suspending travel and flooding areas that are prone to landslides. More than 41,000 people evacuated high-risk coastal villages and along rivers, including in areas that were devastated by a deadly storm a year ago. President Benigno Aquino III made a national TV appeal for people in typhoon Bopha's path to move to safety and take storm warnings seriously. Aquino said army troops had deployed search and rescue boats in advance. Authorities ordered small boats and ferries not to venture out along the country's eastern coastline, warning of rough seas and torrential rain and wind that could whip up four-metre waves. Government forecaster Jori Loiz said Bopha, the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year, had weakened since it made landfall in Davao Oriental province early on Tuesday but winds remained at 99mph (160km/h) with gusts of up to 121mph.

The civil defence chief, Benito Ramos, said officials were checking for casualties or damage from a landslide on a mountainside village in Compostela Valley province. They were also working to verify unconfirmed casualty reports from Southern Leyte and Davao Oriental provinces. Power was cut off in several municipalities in southern Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Davao Oriental provinces after parts of Agusan del Sur province flooded. Bopha's rain front, 373 miles wide, is expected to be out of Philippine territory by Friday. Bopha, its name taken from the Cambodian word for flower or a girl, is the 16th big storm system to hit the Philippines this year. The country usually has about 20 typhoons and major storms a year.
[link to hisz.rsoe.hu]

Typhoon Pablo awes Davao residents

DAVAO CITY, Philippines —For the first time in their lives, people in the coastal towns of Davao Oriental heard the sound of a typhoon, leaving some of them to compare it with the groan from an angry man.
“Even from the sound alone, it seemed like the wind wanted to eat us alive,” said Juvy Tanio, assistant of Mayor Michelle Rabat of Mati City in Davao Oriental, who said he was surprised to see the roofs of his neighbors’ houses gone and the trees toppled.
“Ana diay ang bagyo, no (So that’s what a typhoon is like),” said Tanio, who admitted it was his first time to experience it.
“Scary,” Patrick Ronolo, a college student at the Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology described his first typhoon experience.
“Kusog jud ang hangin (the wind was really strong,” he said.
“Hadlok kaayo ang hangin, karun rami naka experience ani,” said Flordeliz Bantolinao, a teacher in Baculin National High School in Baganga, Davao Oriental, where typhoon Pablo has its landfall.
She said it was the first time she saw coconut trees falling down because of the strong winds.
Tanio said people were still grumbling in the afternoon of Monday, because it was “too hot,” it never felt like there was an upcoming typhoon. But it started to rain that night and the strong winds started at 2 a.m. Tuesday.
“When the wind started to groan at 3 a.m., nobody dared to speak,” Tanio said.
“Everyone was so quiet, we never heard that sound before. Grabe jud diay ang bagyo,” he added.
Even Vivencio Anislag, a resident of Tarragona town, who has been used to big waves and strong winds from years of living along the coast of Davao Oriental was surprised.
“I live near the shore, so I’m used to big waves and strong winds,” he said. “But this one is something different, lahi ra jud ang bagyo,” he said, awed.
Davao Oriental’s Tarragona town, which faces the Pacific Ocean, was among those badly battered when the typhoon made landfall Tuesday morning. Close to 300 families evacuated, and a five-year-old child was killed when a tree fell on their house in sitio Madian, barangay Tubaon.
In Davao city, people were equally awed as it was the first time for them to see strong wind and rain battering houses.
Davao City’s investment come-on of being typhoon-free is no longer true, after the city saw 14 trees fall and an electric post toppled.