01697: 24 Hour Super Typhoon

So Super Typhoon Yolanda is already outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility and the Visayas region took a major beating. Telecommunications are down in several provinces and power remains down in even more. Early evacuation plans were a big help in terms of getting people out of harm's way, especially since the Bohol region had just survived a major earthquake a few weeks ago.

Death toll numbers are inconsistent at this point but early reports tag at least 100 people confirmed dead thus far. Thankfully the ferocity of the typhoon also helped it become a rather fast-moving one, and thus it swept through the country within a span of just 24 hours. I think had it lingered we would have seen even more destruction.

Here in Metro Manila we were spared the typhoon's effects and it was pretty mostly overcast for the past two days. There were isolated pockets of rain and some very fierce winds but not much beyond that, thankfully. Now the real work begins as recovery teams work to rescue those affected  by the typhoon and to restore basic services to the region. But as always, people will find ways to get past this and endure.

On the Sietch front, this weekend is going to be a gaming-centric one. We have a pretty lengthy session set for today and another one-shot scheduled for tomorrow. I could certainly use the unique relaxation offered by gaming for this weekend.