The Philippines, being a tropical country on the Pacific, is pretty much used to being visited by the occasional typhoon and storm; but in cases like a "super typhoon",well... no-one really expected a calamity "stronger than Katrina" to occur. When people heard of a typhoon coming, they initially assumed that it'll be just the usual "raining cats-and-dogs" scenario, but no, when news got out thats its a signal #4 typhoon everyone just started to go haywire and the supply-stocking-craze begun!
Oh Gawd! the "panic buying" which occurred the day before the said arrival of Yolanda was enough to surprise the worry off me; I couldn't help but laugh at my own astonishment! It was the first time I saw people filling up the supermarket. heck! even on the holidays these lines were never that long!!! The noodles and canned food sections were almost empty and so were the biscuits and liquids; most predictably, the whole store ran out of flashlights, rechargeable batteries, batteries and the sort, we had to settle for candles and some glow-sticks, garsh! even my dad bought a load of emergency lights and [was planning on buying] a generator.
When the typhoon struck, it came like a, well...a typhoon. I don't know what else to compare it with; a "strong mythical force" perhaps? hehe... Anyhow, the strong winds were blowing leaves off trees, and the leaves; well...since it was raining a bit, they stuck to the windows facing the gale, haha!
But fortunately it wasn't so strong in our area; sure, it was strong enough to topple some trees, cut telephone wires , disrupt cellphone signals and damage a geothermal steam pipe in the local power plant (causing a temporary power outage) but it didn't really hit us as hard as it did in the Eastern Visayas area.
In the end, the typhoon left a lot of families in Samar and Leyte homeless, sick, starving and basically, IN NEED OF HELP. As of today, some of the mess the typhoon made has already been sorted-out, but unfortunately despite all the help thats been given, its still not enough, the people are already shown looting the stores and (the most desperate one's) waiting for their own pets to die so they can cook them...
Just earlier today, my mom had us pack an old box full of old, used clothing to donate to the families and my sibling's school had each students donate a plastic of goods consisting of 2 kilos of rice, 2 cans of sardines, 2 packs of noodles and 2 bottles of water and some cash. I've gathered a whole bunch of links to websites with information on how to help the families here, just click on the links below:
- Philippine Red Cross
- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD): Online Donation or Gcash
- The Official Philippine Government Site: contains info on local donation phone contacts and others
- ABS-CBN Network has launched their "Tulong Na, Tabang Na, Tayo Na" Charity. ("Tulong na": "Let's Help" in Tagalog, "Tabang na":"Let's Help" in Visaya - the Visayan dialect and "Tayo na": Tagalog for "Let's Go")
- GMA Network has drop off areas listed down.
- Manila Bulletin has more contacts, details and some info on fundraising activities in Manila area.
- Caritas Filipinas Foundation (online donation)
- The Ayala Foundation (online donation): a or b
- Oxfam you can donate to Oxfam (via this link) and according to the site they can help you host fundraising events.
- UNICEF
- Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)
Google has not only launched a people finder but has also launched a crisis map to help families locate loved ones and for everyone else to be updated on the current situations in the disaster areas.
These articles from The Guardian and Southern California Public Radio have more links, info and contacts on who and how to donate to.
And last, but not the least, lets pray for the 1,000 or so people who died in the typhoon, because no matter how much we give, nothing can replace and bring back the loved ones who died; and the only thing we can give to those one's who perished and the family they left behind, are the prayers we send.
God Bless.
