Grim Tales of Basyang

Tahanan sa Trece Martires, Cavite, nabagsakan ng puno. Mag-ina, patay. Tatlo nasugatan.

Metrorail trains suspended, thousands stranded.

Metro Manila and Luzon plunge into darkness. Some areas to endure two or three days more without electricity.

Ship captain hits head while abandoning ship; 12 barges and fishing boats, sunk, run aground. Captain’s body later found floating in a river at Limay, Bataan.

19 mangingisda hindi na nakauwi matapos pumalaot sakay ang kanilang bankang de motor.

Floods swept away a house in Batangas City, killing two children. Their companions still missing.

- - - - - - -

Tales from Basyang. Unlike the fairytale- like stories the baby boomers of the 1950s and 1960s were regaled with by (Mga Kuwento ni) Lola Basyang, then a popular radio drama series based on the writings of Severino Reyes, this atmospheric Basyang wove grim tales of death, darkness, injury, and destruction. (In 1997, the Lola Basyang stories were adapted on TV with a contemporary twist, starring Manilyn Reynes as Lola Basyang's now grown-up grand daughter out to perpetuate her grand mom's story-telling legacy.)

Typhoon Basyang, internationally code-named Coson, struck Metro Manila and Luzon Tuesday almost stealthily -- like the proverbial thief in the night. Most of the residents of the affected areas were caught flatfooted, clueless that they would be directly hit, and probably expecting only a mild weather disturbance. They were not prepared for the howling winds, the persistent downpour, the sound of rushing floodwaters, the systems-wide power outage -- which for many were quite reminiscent of Typhoon Ondoy that wreaked unprecedented havoc not yet a year ago.

In its latest online news update at 9:58 am, July 15, Inquirer.net reports a death toll that has risen to 23. The fatalities, mostly from areas south of Metro Manila, drowned or were crushed by trees toppled by Basyang’s strong winds.

The figures on the missing also went up to 57, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Center (NDCC). These were mostly made up of fishermen whose vessels capsized or went missing during the storm.

Click here to read more