Drowned World
So the Philippines just got hit with a freak late September typhoon. These ones are almost always nasty. I still remember how terrifying things were when Typhoon Milenyo hit us back in 2006 in roughly the same day of the month. That was terrifying, with strong winds knocking down power lines, killing people by dropping billboards on them, and causing trees in our yard to levitate and smite things like an angry Ent.
The current typhoon, Ondoy, is a different flavor. For one thing, the winds are much weaker than they were during Milenyo. Ondoy instead brought a shit-ton of rain all over the city of Metro Manila (and the suburbs, and the provinces around it), and I can now see that heavy rains affects Manila differently than heavy winds.
During Milenyo, the whole city suffered equal amounts - almost every block had at least one house that suffered significant damage due to something massive colliding with it. It also knocked down almost all the power lines and telephone lines throughout the city.
Now, however, the damage is more concentrated... and far more awful - in the lower-lying parts of the city. And the ones near water. Most of the reports show massive damage in Marikina, which is unfortunate enough to be both a low-lying place AND dominated by a river. People are now forced to scramble to their roofs to escape the flooding there. I'm anxiously waiting for word from my friends who are living there - we last heard from them early in the afternoon Manila time, and the news then was very bad. I hope they are okay.
My own sister is stranded at a friend's house right now. Thankfully she was smart enough not to risk traveling in this weather, and stayed over there instead.
Meanwhile, the rest of the city is suffering from intermittent power outages, but the ones with power also have internet, which is why all of us are posting really concerned messages on Facebook right now. The cellphone network is crap right now, though, I presume thanks to all the concerned calls coming in.
Pasay, where I live in, is now flood-free at the moment. However, it still looks like a bomb hit it. This is the first time I've seen the gay bars and karaoke clubs on my street shut down before midnight on a weekend.
For more information about this, here are some links:
Ondoy, You Fucking Asshole - pix and video of the devastation.
A map of addresses and people needing rescue all over Metro Manila
Facebook thread for updating the above website
If you want to help out, the options are here: Help Ondoy Victims
The current typhoon, Ondoy, is a different flavor. For one thing, the winds are much weaker than they were during Milenyo. Ondoy instead brought a shit-ton of rain all over the city of Metro Manila (and the suburbs, and the provinces around it), and I can now see that heavy rains affects Manila differently than heavy winds.
During Milenyo, the whole city suffered equal amounts - almost every block had at least one house that suffered significant damage due to something massive colliding with it. It also knocked down almost all the power lines and telephone lines throughout the city.
Now, however, the damage is more concentrated... and far more awful - in the lower-lying parts of the city. And the ones near water. Most of the reports show massive damage in Marikina, which is unfortunate enough to be both a low-lying place AND dominated by a river. People are now forced to scramble to their roofs to escape the flooding there. I'm anxiously waiting for word from my friends who are living there - we last heard from them early in the afternoon Manila time, and the news then was very bad. I hope they are okay.
My own sister is stranded at a friend's house right now. Thankfully she was smart enough not to risk traveling in this weather, and stayed over there instead.
Meanwhile, the rest of the city is suffering from intermittent power outages, but the ones with power also have internet, which is why all of us are posting really concerned messages on Facebook right now. The cellphone network is crap right now, though, I presume thanks to all the concerned calls coming in.
Pasay, where I live in, is now flood-free at the moment. However, it still looks like a bomb hit it. This is the first time I've seen the gay bars and karaoke clubs on my street shut down before midnight on a weekend.
For more information about this, here are some links:
Ondoy, You Fucking Asshole - pix and video of the devastation.
A map of addresses and people needing rescue all over Metro Manila
Facebook thread for updating the above website
If you want to help out, the options are here: Help Ondoy Victims