Shelter from the Storm
Christine Ongson -SLU’s Filipino Student Assocation
Source: REUTERS-Erik de Castro
What had started as strong rainfall on the night of September 25, 2009 soon morphed into a greater force of nature. Typhoon Ondoy (or “Ketsana,” as it is known internationally) made landfall, leaving the Pacific island country devastated and revealing the government’s unpreparedness. Within 24 hours, Ondoy had deposited 17.9 inches of rain—the most rainfall recorded in a single day in 42 years, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)—incurring $100 million worth in damages and 360 people dead. Ondoy did not stop there. Soon after, the tropical storm crossed over to neighboring countries Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, where it left similar trails of destruction.
On the afternoon of September 26, a state of calamity was declared in the Metro Manila area, as well as in 27 other affected provinces. Metro Manila itself is reported to have been nearly 80% under water. The severe flooding and resulting landslides created internal havoc, interrupting power and communications lines and trapping people within homes and along expressways, as reported by Filipino news network ABS-CBN. Rescue teams, such as the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Red Cross, faced obstacles in maneuvering through clogged roads while waist-deep in floodwater. Images show relief goods being dropped to stranded civilians on rooftops. To date, 337,216 people have been affected by the storm, and nearly 60,000 civilians have been evacuated to 118 centers.
Source: REUTERS-Erik de Castro
“This is a time in the lives of us Filipinos where nothing is our everything. Where home does not exist, food becomes a luxury, and disease is lurking in every corner,” senior Cristine Ongson, a Filipino foreign exchange student at SLU. “[It’s] a situation that we thought was too devastating, too impossible, but yet has happened. Despite this tragedy, there are those who have stepped above and beyond of their capability to reach out and give their all. It is about giving what we have, giving what we should have, and giving what we all have to those who need it the most.”
On behalf of Ondoy victims, the Filipino Student Association at SLU will be accepting monetary and relief goods donations. For more information, please contact Operation Ondoy coordinators at fsa@slu.edu.
