…and we thought Sendong was bad. Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) is expected to pass directly over Cagayan de Oro City as a Category 2 with sustained winds of 155 to 170 kmh Whereas Tropical Storm Sendong (Washi) had negligible winds, it caused it
s devastation through pounding us with 2 days of heavy rain, Pablo could potentially cause the same flooding but it will cause a lot of wind damage that was not present with Sendong.
Hurricane Katrina passed directly over me in South Florida in 2005, and I went outside and walked the beach as the calm of the eye of the storm passed directly over me. Katrina later devastated New Orleans. A month later Hurricane Wilma, after crossing Florida from West to East caused a lot more damage as a Category 2 storm even though the eye of that storm passed about 20 km North of me. Katrina gave me 6 days without power, and Wilma gave me 11 days without power. (Although I had a generator, the problem was getting fuel for it, so I ended up going long periods without any power, for lack of fuel.)
The public utility infrastructure is much stronger in South Florida than it is in Northern Mindanao, so I expect there will be a lot more damage here than last year and the devastation will begin tomorrow, less than 24 hours from now. I will stock up on diesel for my generators.
One of the worst causes of damage from these types of storms is the debris carried by the wind. Much of the debris comes as buildings get ripped apart by the wind, and this debris, when it strikes other buildings, caused them to shed building materials also, adding even more wind borne debris.
Imagine a sheet of plywood hitting your house at 150 kph.
Florida has a long history of being hit by strong Hurricanes and the building codes there have been changed to help prevent the buildings from being ripped apart by the strong winds. Cagayan de Oro has no such building codes for a Typhoon like Pablo. The city is going to be ripped apart.
Stay away from windows. Exploding window glass can kill just as easily as your roof caving in on you. Winds will come from all directions as the storm transits the city, so all sides of free standing buildings will be subject to the high winds.
Batten down CdO. This storm is going to be a killer. Cover your windows. Burn loose wood and building debris now. Stock up on mineral water.
Tropical Depression Twenty-Six : 5 Day Forecast Map | Weather Underground
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