I also found the following report  online:

Mindanao hydroelectric power plants reduce capacity to 50%
By Lino De La Cruz (The Philippine Star) Updated February 14, 2010 12:00 AM
ILIGAN CITY , Philippines  – Hydroelectric power plants in Mindanao have been forced to reduce their capacity to 50 percent since Feb. 3 due to the low water inflow into Lake Lanao and Pulangi River because of the onset of El Niño, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said.
Eugene Bicar, NGCP Mindanao system operations head, said power load shedding throughout Mindanao will be enforced the whole month of February as NGCP projects that power supply will remain below comfortable levels.
This is due to the unavailability of the Agus 5, Mindanao coal-fired power plant Unit 2, the Iligan diesel-powered plant, and the Western Mindanao power plant in Zamboanga City, which has reduced its output from 90 to 80 megawatts, Bicar said.

To address the power shortage in the short term, Bicar said the preventive maintenance of the Agus 5 hydroelectric plant’s Units 1 and 2 must be fast-tracked and the repair of Kibawe 138 KVA lines must be completed as soon as possible.

He said the commissioning of the Maramag-Bunawan 230 KVA backbone project would also help in strengthening the network interconnection of the Mindanao grid.
At the same time, Bicar urged the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. to resume the operation of the Iligan diesel-powered plant and to contract additional power generation from embedded generations like the diesel plant in northern Mindanao.

Two-hour rotational blackouts are now being implemented, as power distributors in Mindanao are assigned load allocations to maintain under the curtailment plan.

I remember in the States the talk of El Niño and it causing changes of the weather pattern. An El Niño condition is when there is warmer than normal water surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and in the opposite La Niña is a cooling surface temperature trend. These surface temperature changes affect the weather patterns all over the world. It can cause increased or decreased hurricane activity and cause flooding rains or  decreased precipitation causing draughts.

It is strange because a few months ago I talked about all the rain we were receiving but overall there has been a decrease of rainfall on Mindanao. Since there is a Power Grid where electricity is shared all over the island, decreased rainfall has significantly lowered the lakes and rivers. Not like in America where a winters snow pack is monitored for the summer water levels, here it never snows so an average rainfall is needed all year long to supplement the lakes levels.

I also found plans for a new hydroelectric to be constructed starting this year but will not be online until 2014. So far, now let us do our rain dances and pray for many flooding downpours. For Davao, I hope the rains fall further away where the lakes and rivers are and less In Davao.

In the two years living here, I have seen dry hot days and then there would be a break with heavy rains. This would happen all year long. Elena told me to her, the rainy season is January and February. I remember a visit here in the end of July and seeing rain for many days and the muddy streets.

Usually here, when it does rain, it is in the evenings or late at night. There are many times I have been woken from my sleep hearing the pounding on the roof of a heavy rain downpour. By morning, the sky is clear and the only remaining sign is the wet streets and many puddles.

Well in the past week or so most days were cloudy and rainy. The good part is it really cooled the temperatures. The bad thing is when the sun did come out the humidity rose since all the moisture in or on the ground would evaporate and add to the moist normal air.

I remember having to go out and our poor helper, with a little umbrella is out by the street, waiting for a break in traffic to open the gate for me to backup the car. Then you need extra caution in traffic because many Jeepneys drive around with bald tires.

The other day it was raining pretty steady from when I woke, later I was driving around town and the rain stopped. I looked up and noticed nice blue sky with just a few wisps’ of clouds. Within ten minutes, the clouds filled back in and the downpour started again.

Sunday we were out for our weekly food shopping. Lucky for us, the rain stopped just as I picked Elena at church the rain stopped and we were able to shop at the public market without rain. We came home, unloaded, relaxed a little and off to the mall for the rest of our shopping. While there a light rain would, start and stop but when we were to come home, the rain turned back into a real heavy downpour.  Elena mentioned to watch for the flooded streets on our drive home.

I was greatly surprised, in front of Victoria mall where it usually gets flooded was clear. I just do not know if the drainage was fixed or the rain was not as heavy there.

Again, this morning, I woke up and looked at the sky and I saw clear blue skies with a little cottony wisps of clouds. About ten minutes later I looked out, the blue was gone, and the nice white clouds were turning gray, so I am looking for another day of some rain.

They say every cloud has a silver lining, when it rains here, the air cools and the dust and dirt outside and on the car gets washed away. For those who use  public transportation, these rainy days can make traveling difficult. Many taxi drivers hide because they do not want to take fares to flooded areas.

In America many people, especially as they get older, move to Florida, Arizona or Southern California for the warm or hot weather. However, in those locations, there are some seasonal changes.

Here in the Philippines, they do not discuss the temperatures in numbers. Mostly they talk about it as either HOT or VERY HOT. We even joke at times adding a third choice, Extremely Hot. In addition, here it is humid all the time. The combination of the heat and humidity create a “heat index” which is the temperature that it feels like, which is hotter.

At times, it does rain and will cool off the temperatures, but after the rain stops, the heat rises and so does the humidity. If it does rain in late afternoon and continues until the sun goes down, the evening will be cooler than usual. However, at night, because we do not have screens, we close the doors and windows to keep put the mosquitoes and roaches. In addition, as I have mentioned in many past articles, houses are mostly made of concrete block. This type of construction materials will absorb the heat during the day and radiate once the temperatures drop. A masonry wall can absorb enough heat where it will not radiate all its heat out over the night and would need a few days of lower temperatures to lose all its absorbed heat.

So, when it cools down and you close up the house, this heat will radiate back out. By the time you wake and open up the house, the sun is up and the heat returns. I decided to look at a weather history and make a little chart. I will show the past week and then one day a month for the past few months to show what temperatures are like here. I am also including the average humidity. I am surprised at how much I perspire here, and how heavy the air feels, the humidity is less than I was used to in Florida.

One thing that surprised me was the minimum temperature. I did not realize it got so cool here at night, but with all the building radiating the heat, to feel these lower temperatures you will probably need to be in an open area like at the airport where these temperatures were recorded.

I hope this helps with some idea of the weather here.

Angeles City Spared From Major Flooding From Typhoons – by Gene Davis
It seems as though Mother Nature is taking aim on the Philippines this year. Storm after storm has brought major flooding, land slides and death. Luzon was inundated with more rainfall than has been recorded in some forty years. But for the most part Angeles City and most of the local surrounding area escaped these disasters. Even as Typhoon Ondoy wreaked havoc in many parts of Pampanga, it spared this city from much of the damage and flooding. City Administrator Mark Allen Sison said during the opening of the Metro Gaisano Department Store here, said the city was fortunate that there were no major damage.

The typhoon brought heavy downpours that caused flooding in many towns and claimed the lives of some 14 people in Barangay Baño in Arayat in a mudslide. According to Sison, the Ospital ng Angeles is open 24 hours for emergencies not only for the city’s constituents but for neighboring towns as well. “All our roads are passable and our electric and water utilities have been restored,” he said, adding that after their meeting at the City Disaster Coordinating Council, city officials will distribute relief goods for affected families in Arayat and San Fernando.

The Provincial Board (PB) as a committee en banc conducted a hearing that will set a geological hazard (geohazard) study and survey for Mt. Arayat. The landslide, which residents there claimed as “rare” and have not occurred for many years, triggered much speculation as to its cause, including alleged mining and drilling activities in the top of Mt. Arayat.

The regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here, led by regional executive director Ricardo Calderon, as well as officials of the Geological and Mining Bureau, has since denied any “illegal” activity there, and claimed the killer incident was purely “natural” in cause. However, some residents there, who asked not to be named, said in the midst of their evacuation from the 700-meter danger zone declared by DENR, that “something mysterious” was going on in the top area of the mountain before the landslide and the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy.

The residents insisted they heard a loud explosion before the landslide.
The incident prompted Guiao to immediately summon the en banc and call for a Geo-hazard of “sleepy” Mt. Arayat, shed light on the incident and avert the recurrence of such a disaster. Geo-hazard assessment and study calls for the creation of “geohazard maps” that provide information on areas prone to landslides, liquefaction, subsidence and other ground instabilities.

These also identify potential areas for relocation for residents of areas prone to floods, landslides and other natural calamities.
More locally, here in Magalang, we had several large trees blow down. Two of which were at the elementary school. One even fell through the block wall surrounding the school. A few of our streets looked like the Colorado River each time the rain came; but no houses or businesses were flooded that I know of. The only noticeable problem now that the storms are gone is the lack of produce at our local public market. With the road still closed between here and Baguio City everyone is making due with canned goods and bananas.

With drier weather returning, all we as a nation and community can do now is start the cleanup and try to go on with life.

As expats, we owe it to our host country of the Philippines to pitch in any way and anywhere we can to help those around us. Next time, if there is a next time, we could easily be the ones in need of such help.

If you watch the news you have seen the disaster in Manila and Luzon. You might be saying, “Why is Bruce writing about something as trivial as street flooding in Davao where the water is just a few inches deep when people are missing and drowning in Manila”?

I try to write about living here in Davao. I watch the TV and see what is happening in Manila and understand the tragedy effecting the people in Manila. I lived in California for 18 years and Florida for 10. I have seen the destruction, loss of property and lives an earthquake, tornado and a hurricane leave in its wake. I vividly remember the destruction in New Orleans from Hurrican Katrina and  lived through the year 3 hurricanes hit south Florida and especially Hurricane Wilma.

I have been lucky in my life that I have had no major losses from any of these natural phenomenon.

Back to the reason for this article; I write about life here in Davao as I observe and experience living here. Even though I showed some street flooding, that was what I saw and experienced Sunday. There are areas in Davao that are so low, when there is a rain storm, houses are flooded and streets so low people cannot get to or away from their homes. It is nothing like the tragedy in Manila, and I do feel for them, but I live in Davao and I report about life here.

If your a reader and you feel I am trivializing the flooding here, I am sorry. For me, why should I write about Manila? It is all over the news and the internet. Since I am not experiencing the floods there, all I could do it paraphrase what is already written and avaliable.

Let us all pray for the survival of all the family’s suffering from this disaster.

Saturday morning we woke up to pouring rain. It worried us because we had plans to meet Elena’s group of lady friends and 2 other husbands at the Marco Polo Hotel to use the pool. As we were getting ready, the rain slowed down and shortly after arriving at the hotel, the rain did stop. After we went for lunch and then to meet a couple we are friends with. It drizzled a little on and off later but never any heavier rain.

Today, Sunday, as always we went to Agdao Public market and then later to Gaisano Mall for lunch and the rest of our marketing. It was nice and cool outside with thick cloudy skies. My only thought was how nice it was instead if the usual humid heat. As the afternoon progressed it did get darker out, but I did not think much about it. I guess you get used to clouds and a rain shower during the week.

Well, we were finally done with the shopping and as usual, as Elena goes out with a helper to bring the groceries out to the lower level drive through to wait for me to get the car, I went to the first level to get our points for shopping and then to get the car. As I was walking through the second level parking structure, I noticed the pouring rain.

As I said, we are used to rain here, but rarely do we get that heavy downpour that makes seeing across the street difficult, but we did today. As I was coming down to the lower exit ramp, all I saw was cars. Nobody was moving and the gridlock was terrible. I knew Elena was going to text me to inquire why I was taking so long so I text her to let her know. About 10 minutes later she text me asking where I was, and I told her I was in the same place. Then it took about another 10 minutes to get around to the entrance to the lower lever where I pick her up outside the market area of the mall.

Again, exiting the parking was slow since cars were lined up everywhere and in true Filipino driving skills; many cars blocked other cars to force a standstill. We were trying to decide which way to get home and not get stuck in a flooded street. You see, here in Davao and I would assume in most places, streets and areas as developed are not graded to remove lower areas. They just build roads following the natural contours of the land. Because of this, there are many low spots that just fill up with water during a rainstorm. Well, I finally decided to exit in whatever way there was moving traffic. We took a back road and at a few intersections we hit some deep pockets of water, but nothing too bad. We finally got to Victoria Mall by a back street. As we turned to J.P. Laurel, a main thoroughfare, Elena mentioned the street how that road always floods after a rain and sure enough, as we got close we could see deep flooding. I U-turned and then we decided to turn into the mall parking so if need be, we would have exit options where to try next. As we drove along the front of the mall in the raised and level parking, J.P. Laurel was flooded, but by the further exit the street was higher and not flooded. I parked to take a few photos and saw the water over the curb and some guy pushing a stalled small jeepney. Well, the rest of our trip home was uneventful; the rain had practically stopped and no more flooded streets.

The city has been working on the flooding problem and I must say the streets are less flooded in the past, but during a real heavy rain, it is difficult to have the drainage perfect with all the rises and dips. I am glad we did not get stuck in a flooded condition we were in about 18 months ago, where a truck passed and I felt my car rise up as it floated.

One of the things I have thought about recently is the rain. On visits here and the first year I noticed some days with a lot of rain and days or weeks with none at all.

Over the past few months, it has felt wetter and hotter than I remember from last year. Especially the last few weeks.

With that, I was curious about yearly rainfall averages in the different places I have lived.

I grew up in East Meadow, New York. At the age of 25 I moved to Southern California and I lived there for 18 years. From there I moved to southeast Florida near Palm Beach.

With this said I decided to look at average yearly rainfall in all these places:

East Meadow, New York         46.36″

Los Angeles, California           14.77″

Moreno Vally, California       10.67″

Boynton Beach, Florida          59.44″

Davao City, Philippines          78.74″

Also some say there is a dry season here and a rainy season, but to me, it is just a toss of a coin all year long.

Well that has all changed last night. About 9pm last night it started to rain. Sometimes light but with long heavy downpours. It continued all day today.

The subdivision we live has been under street construction to put in coverts and drains. Because of this they have raised the level of the street and are still dirt. Well, I should say MUD. Also all traffic has been diverted to our street. So there is ruts and deep pot holes all filled with muddy water. One side of our lot is lower so it is flooded.

This morning the water went off. What is the old expression “Water, water everywhere, but none to drink? Drink, flush and wash. Finally about 4pm it came back on.

I know rain cools the air, but it also is breeding for mosquitoes, and there is an increase of the already high humidity.

I know, you can be thinking, stop complaining, you decided to move there, and you are correct. It is just so much I need time to get used to.

I also need to get used to traffic, exhaust fumes while on the main roads and the noise of the motor tricycles. (tik tik in Thailand)

I never enjoyed cold showers, but I love them here, maybe I spend a few hours under the spray.

The food is different, but I am enjoying most. I still will not give in to pressure to eat balut.

For those of you who do not know, Balut is either a chicken or duck egg, fertilized and then at some defined time they are boiled and eaten. The scariest is the 18 day verity. The gestation period for chickens are, I think, 22 days, so use your imagination what is inside the egg?

There are other things I do not want to try. There is a gray item made from minuscule fish in a salt water and vinegar. It looks like some other gray matter if you get my meaning.

Over all, I am happy I am here and enjoying the close family ties, since we have 3 nieces and one nephew living with us.

About the differences, as an expression a friend uses, “We are not in Kansas anymore” (from “Wizard of Oz”

Keep tuned to more words of wisdom from me in the future.