Typhoon Ketsana Relief
Oct 1st
The Wrath of Typhoon Ketsana
26 September 2009 – Disaster struck the Philippines. Typhoon Ketsana (a.k.a. “Ondoy”) dumped over 400mm of rain (a month’s worth) in 6 hours. It hit the bottom half of the island of Luzon, affecting the capital Manila and nearby towns and cities. The Marikina and Pasig rivers, 2 of the most prominent rivers that run through Manila, burst its banks and flooded entire neighbourhoods. The waters were neck-deep in some areas, and people had to resort to climbing to their rooftops and hanging on to electric posts and cables just to see higher ground.
Emergency rescue was instantly deployed, but the calamity was too much for the ill-equipped Philippine military to cope, coupled with raging floodwaters that have swept huge debris along its way. As a result, 250 people are confirmed dead, and hundreds more still reported missing. More than 500,000 people have been rendered homeless by this disaster. The Typhoon Ketsana disaster is one of the worst disasters to strike the Philippines.
Stories Of Tragedy
Here’s a first hand account from Lisa Navidad, a resident of Manila, of her experience with the Typhoon Ketsana disaster:
“It was raining non-stop since Friday evening. Hubby and I were watching TV and heard that Pasig was flooded. That was where my younger sister, Bubut and her husband was living. I texted her and asked how things where in Pasig since they were also living with my bro-in-law’s grandma who is 87 y/o. She replied with exclamation points “Hanggang ankle na inside the house!!!” (It’s ankle-deep inside the house) and that was the last time I heard from her.
I was texting here the whole afternoon and way into the evening. No response. I thought it (was) odd that she won’t reply to me and even when my mom and dad texted her. I felt that something was wrong.
What happened next was excruciating. News flash of ranging waters in Pasig and on different parts of Manila was shocking to say the least. How could this be happening. I was scared for my sister and her family. They lived in a one-storey house, with an old woman who is blind in one-eye. Where will they go? Are they still alive? Those where the thoughts that ran through my head. I’ve been calling their cellphones the whole night, but it was out of service. Panic and hysteria are bubbling inside my head. The storm and fear forming inside my chest was devastating. Where they still alive?! I hoped so, I really hoped so.
I talked to the sister-in-law, younger sibling of my sister’s husband. She told me the last time they talked to them was around 4pm. They urged them to transfer to an abandoned apartment in front of the house because it had a second floor. Then after that no news. Each hour that passed, fear and terror crept into our hearts. My dad did not take it well, he passed out. His blood pressure climbed high, he was beyond consolation. So is my mom.
No one could help us. The rescue was a slow, pain-staking process. The night passed and we wondered if they were safe, if they had food, if they were alive. The following day, we waited for news, none came. It was after lunch already – still no news if there was any rescue going to happen. We called everyone we knew, all the government agencies, anyone who can help, strangers. No one could help, all the government agencies were deployed, all we can do was wait…and hope that they were still alive.
September 27 4:47pm, my sis-in-law got a message from them, they were alive! Thank God but stuck in the 2nd floor of the apartment, cold, no food and no idea if help was coming. That gave us hope, they were alive. We will move heaven and earth to get to them even if we had to swim there ourselves.
A lot of people from Facebook responded to my urgent request for help. But still we couldn’t do anything. If only there were more rubber boats available, if only we could get there faster, if only help was sure to come. We couldn’t do anything but wait. Wait for any good soul to tell us that they will get them. My sister had hypoglycemia, her grandma was sickly.
After waiting for almost 2 days already, finally news! People from Red Cross and the Armed Forces got them. It 12:30am September 27 they were riding, 1 of the 4 rubber boats deployed for the whole City of Pasig, back to our waiting and longing arms. Rescued at last.”
My sister’s account of what happened brought goosebumps in my arms, people wailing at night in the dark asking for help, asking for food, but they couldn’t do anything…the water was high, way past the one-storey roof. There were dead bodies, mothers who gave birth prematurely, sick people in respirators who lost their lives due to hypothermia and no electricity. No words could describe the devastation. Still even as I write this people are still on top of roofs, people are still starving waiting and hoping for help, people have lost their loved ones, people have lost their means to live.
Here is my own experience of the floods:
I’m a Filipino living in Australia, and though I was not there when it happened, I happen to be online with my friends on Facebook pleading desperately for help. One of my ex-colleagues who is also a very good friend has put out messages of plea to all her friends in Facebook. She lives in the UK, but all her family is in the Philippines, stranded on the 2nd level of their house with no food or water. The floodwaters have submerged the ground level of their house and it was fast rising towards the 2nd level where they sought refuge. She was so distressed, and I felt so helpless seeing all this. Other people have been frantically checking on each other to see if they’re safe, and relatives and friends lost each other during all the chaos. Though it was all through online chat and status updates, it was very distressing. The Philippines gets so many typhoons each year, but never has it gone to this scale of disaster from my living memory!
Images of the Disaster
Below are some images and videos of the Typhoon Ketsana Disaster:
Help Is Needed
The Philippines need all the help it can get. As I am writing this, relief and rescue operations are taking place, and some areas are still under water with no clean water supply or electricity to use. There is also another typhoon on its course to the Philippines, and is tipped to be much stronger and much worse than Typhoon Ketsana. The mess is not over yet, and another typhoon is already on its way! If you can donate to the organizations supporting the relief and rescue efforts of this disaster, that would be very much appreciated. Below are the places you can donate money to:
Philippines.com.au – Sagip Migrante Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims
Philippines.com.au is a site dedicated to Filipinos living in Australia. They are currently accepting donations for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy. This is a great site for Australians to donate.
Caritas Australia is part of the global Caritas Foundation, whose aim is to help the poor and the disadvantaged. Caritas Australia is currently accepting donations for the Philippine Flood Relief. Caritas in other countries would surely have a similar fund raising for this disaster so visit your local Caritas website.
Ayala Foundation
Ayala Foundation is a Philippine-based organization that was founded by one of the Philippines’ wealthiest families, the Ayala family. The foundation has several projects that help the poor and the disadvantaged. You can donate for Ondoy victims here.
Philippine National Red Cross
The Philippine National Red Cross is part of the International Society of Red Cross and Red Crescent, and is responsible for reaching out to those who are in need of medical assistance and aid. Please donate to this wonderful organization.
Thank you in advance for your generosity and for your reading this post.
