WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST

[whynot]

A few days ago, Typhoon Ondoy hit Manila and surrounding areas, and flooded the city over. Worst floods in 40 years, so bad that cars just swirl around in the currents with passengers still inside them, so bad that some places are submerged under 20 feet of water. It was 85 km/h winds, and a month's worth of rain that fell in 6 hours. I mean, we're already pretty rainy to begin with.

My folks are fine but there's already at least 51 people dead, and around 280,000 people displaced. ETA: That's like if every citizen of Barbados or the Maldives got displaced. We can make a new country with the displaced.


WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Help for Typhooon Ondoy Victims in the Philippines - This is a good place to keep up with news, with active situation map and a list of ways you can donate. If you scroll down, there is a list of US-based donation drop-off points, though it's just California, New York, and New Jersey. You can also do credit card and PayPal.

2. Ondoy Places to Donate Relief Goods - This GoogleDocs has a more comprehensive list of how to donate under the 'Online/International' category.

3. SPREAD THE WORD.

ETAs: I guess the rest of the world is calling this one Typhoon Ketsana. What's with that, why do our typhoons get named twice. Here are brief news clips about the state of affairs in Manila from BBC and Al Jazeera. The president continues to be extraordinarily inept, and our own urban planning continues to fail us.

Comments

[briar_pipe]

I'm so relieved to hear you and your family are okay, sweetie. I was going to PM you this evening if I didn't hear from you today.

Y'all were getting hit the same time we were, but we got lucky. All my family lives on high ground, so although some of them were trapped in their houses for a week, at least they weren't living at the church.

*hugs* and I hope the water level drops soon so y'all can get started sorting things out. Please stay safe.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

I'm okay, I'm actually living in New York right now for my degree program. It's my family who are still living in Manila. I'm pretty sure our house is okay too, my family is just kind of stuck there until the waters recede. Where were your flash floods? Thanks so much for the hugs and concern, that's awesome and sweet of you! <333 It's so nice to you guys reach out!

[briar_pipe]

See how well I keep up? *is a complete flake*

I hope your family is like mine and tends to stock up on canned food. My mom's always like: "For the famine that never comes!" and this week I said, "Hey Mom, you know those cans you said you'd never use?"

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Heehee, I think so. My mother loves to grocery shop, which comes in handy for times like these.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Oh, Georgia?

[briar_pipe]

That'd be us.

[miakun.livejournal.com]

Holy shit, hon. I totally missed this post. I'm glad you and your family are all right -- I can't believe I didn't get word of this on the news this morning. :/

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Thank you <333. I'm in New York so I'm no problem, it's my family who are still living in Manila. I can't believe how bad this typhoon is, even by Filipino standards. Fingers are being pointed at bad urban planning, which I am inclined to agree with, and I'm also wondering why the weather forecasters weren't more on their game about this. Was the storm just that unpredictable? Are we gonna sit back and point at it yelling "global warming!!!" again?

I'm very dissatisfied with world news coverage in the USA. News-wise, CNN tends to cast a smaller net than say Al Jazeera or even the BBC.

[miakun.livejournal.com]

Yeah last time I was in Germany (my grandfather gets the BBC there), I was shocked at how well the news feeds actually did the news and there weren't a cycle of "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" news and talking about some reporter's new book. It really makes bile rise in the back of my throat at how news media has fallen.

BUT THAT MIGHT BE A HOT BUTTON ISSUE FOR ME. I wanted to be Lois Lane before I realized how crappy it had gotten.

Here have a happy.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

I never tire of that GIF! <333333

Right?! There's just weirdly a lot of human interest stories for a global news corporation. CNN claims to be global, but it feels like a town's local rag, the way it presents things. And you never hear news from the more "obscure" areas of the world, like nothing from Tonga or Palau. It's like if most people don't know where it is, then why bother with news from it. And what an attitude that is!

My favorite is Al Jazeera (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AlJazeeraEnglish#grid/uploads), which is not without its biases, but I feel they are more thorough, and it also helps that everything they broadcast on their channel is available in YouTube clips.

[be-themoon.livejournal.com]

oh, good! I was worried about you when I heard about it. D: I know you're here, but I was hoping your family was all right.

and man, it's times like these when I desperately wish I had a PayPal and more importantly, money. arrrrrgh. I shall at least try to spread the news. (tomorrow morning. mom's forcing me off to bed now.)

<333 *hugs* I hope you're feeling okay!

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Aww babe <333 thank you

Yeah, a lot of ppl on my flist are students, who are not the richest demographic. I am one myself so I understand their position, but at least we can get the word out and raise awareness. If they can't do something, maybe they know someone who can.

[vagabondsal.livejournal.com]

My favorite part of all this is how the government is trying on the old "We warned you guys! It's your own fault you didn't evacuate!" bit. Big words coming from a national weather service that doesn't even have Doppler radar.

Fucking hell. When do we start revolutionizing up in this joint?

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

I just did a quick Wikisearch on a Doppler radar because I don't know what it is. So I see what it does, and I take it this is like a basic tool of weather forecasting..?

[vagabondsal.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, yeah -- it's just this generic, basic thing that helps TV weather people see what's coming up.

[mrinalinee.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad your family's okay, bb. I thought I had said that earlier, but I guess I didn't. Fail.

280,000 people? Jesus fucking Christ. I'm just going to go process that for a while.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Thanks <333

IKR. I'm trying to run a charity drive for it but am running into unexpected and horrible bureaucratic complications about it with my housing office. WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO STOP ME DOING A GOOD THING. It makes no sense.

[mumblemutter.livejournal.com]

Have donated to the WFP, I hope it'll go where it's needed. Sending many many good thoughts to you and your loved ones and everyone. 280,000! What! /o\

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

Oh cool, I didn't know the WFP got involved.

280,000! What! /o\
FO SHIZ

[animus-wyrmis.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear your family's okay. (I've been running around like a crazy person all week so I hadn't heard about anything until a couple days ago, but damn, those photos are *scary*.) I reeeeeally hope that this isn't, like, a sign of Worse Things to Come where the weather/climate change are concerned.

[twoskeletons.livejournal.com]

The Ring of Fire has always gone through a lot of crap, but yeah I hope this isn't a sign of further crap to come either!