Typhoon Odette is passing though the Southern Islands. Hit Cebu, Bohol, Northern Mandaue, and Negros.

Next up is Northern Palawan. Many homes damaged and many people in shelters.

My friends have come through the typhoon OK Lang. But they say others have lost their houses.

Wish them all the Best!!!  ❤️

Things are still very bad in the Cebu City area. Many houses are not livable and eletrical power is slow in coming back, wires and poles litter the streets there. Money is being dispensed in Lapu Lapu, but only to those who completely lost their houses. My friend there told me his house has big holes in the roof and the rain pours in, but the city says the damage is not serious enough for them to receive aid.

My friend from Bohol says things are even worse there. Very sad!!

Fortunately the typhoon spared the northern portion of Cebu Island. My guys living in Bogo City and Daanbantayan say things are about back to normal.

Best wishes to all Filipinos!!

About the only thing I remember from geography lessons at school was that this or that city owed its importance to its location. Politics aside, The Philippines clearly owes its misfortunes to its very location. As long as I have been aware of Asia typhoons have been hitting The Philippines with regularity each year. With global warming the severity of those typhoons is increasing and sadly will continue to increase. Poverty has resulted in most Filipinos living in what are little more than poorly constructed shacks in towns and cities with poorly constructed infrastructure. The misfortunes of those living in the country is just going to increase.

Those same typhoons frequently continue on their course to batter Hong Kong and southern China. Others hit Taiwan and Japan. Yet because those cities/countries have over the years prepared for typhoons and have construction codes that limit the damage they cause, their habitants suffer little and are quickly back to work. I think only in East China are mass evacuations sometimes mandated.