I remember when watching the videos from the tsunami in Japan that I was surprised at the large number of cars and trucks and vans floating and bobbing on the water. Common sense might dictate that vehicles are very heavy and would be difficult to move. However, modern vehicles are tightly sealed and with all the air inside them act like floating bottles or ships – bobbing along in floodwaters. That happened during the storm surge of super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) as well, and vehicles floated all over the place and ended up in strange places blocking the roads.

The street in this video was turned into a 10- or 12-foot deep river during the typhoon and vehicles floated around all over the place. It took months for all of the vehicles in this video to finally be moved. The large panel truck on its side blocked this street from other traffic for a very long time. Also during the video, you can hear a helicopter passing by overhead. Helicopters in the sky were a common sight after the typhoon. Those of us down on the ground and somewhat trapped would look up with wonderment and wonder what all those helicopters were up to. They seemed like visitors from another world.

Tags: Japan, Philippines Bike Trip 2013, Super Typhoon Yolanda, typhoon