Tropical storm Glenda passed through Metro Manila last night. Power
was cut off since around 7am of 16 July 2014. It was
restored after about 12 hours, at around 7pm.
Backup Power
A cursory visual survey before 7pm found that most buildings in BGC
had some lights on, so they must have full or partial back up power.
Some buildings, like JP Morgan, maybe because they are Business Process
Offices that serve overseas clients, they were even fully lit before
Meralco power was restored.
Public Transportation
BGC bus was not seen running before 9am, but apparently resumed
service in late morning. BGC is a BPO center after all. Except for the
early morning hours, taxis were easily available in BGC throughout the
day.
Retail Facilities
Most shops were closed in BGC in the morning. Tokyo Bubble Tea Cafe and Restaurant in 30th
Street was one of the very few that were able to maintain operation in
the morning. In late afternoon, a few more coffee shops and shops were
open, including ROX in BHS, but over 60% of shops remained closed. As
regards the malls, Market! Market! announced that it would open from
1pm. It is not known what time did SM Aura Mall open today, but at 7pm,
the mall was fully lit and sufficiently air-conditioned. Over 80% of the
stores were open, including the supermarket.
Physical Damages in BGC
A lot of trees were blown down. Several sections of roads were
closed due to fallen trees or damaged construction site structures: part
of McKinley Parkway near the construction site of Two Serendra across
SM Aura Mall due to collapsed site structure of Two Serendra; part of
Rizal Drive near Bonifacio One building due to damaged site structure of
Stopover project; section of 3rd Avenue near Fort Legend Tower; and
section of 3rd Avenue outside Mind Museum due to the collapse of some construction structure outside Mind Museum.