KETSANA devastates a whole nation

september 26, 2009...was just an ordinary day, or so thought. i got back at the apartment at 4am, it was cold and raining still, nothing to be alarmed with because it's been raining on and off the past weeks. not yet sleepy so i decided to watch a movie while checking emails, ebay & facebook. i snoozed after a few minutes, must've been tired after all, was awaken at around 7am when my flatemate T arrived with her +1Y. moved the mouse as the laptop had gone in a standby mode, the TV was still blaring with the movie, played a bit of Mafia and finally logout and  shut-off-ed! ZZZzzz it was probably around 9am when i was awakened by T, which was a surprise because we never wake each other up except when we need to go to work and the alarm didn't work or in dire cases only. T went out to buy something and was alarmed at the rain water rising on the streets of evangelista and outside our apartment. we finally decided to move all our stuffs in the living room upstairs and just in a nick of time, a few seconds after we finished hauling our stuffs, water surged at our apartment and a few minutes later, our apartment was flooded ankle-deep and still rising at an alarming rate, even our laundry area and toilet was totally flooded.as the rain continued to pour, we had no idea what was happening elsewhere, we couldn't plug the TV because the sockets were so low so we just waited for the rain to stop & made paper boats, it was also a good thing we were well stocked with food and drinking water. it was only after a few hours when i finally got connected to the net and opened my FB and listened to the radio that i finally realized how serious the situation is elsewhere, i was shocked...people were dying, getting stranded in their own homes without food, drinking water or medicine, by this time T was already sleeping, but i couldn't sleep anymore. 7pm, the water inside our apartment has finally stopped rising luckily it never reached the electric sockets and luckily we still had electricity. another friend T came knocking with her +1J, they were wet, jeans folded to their knees, they were both carrying their rubber shoes J was barefoot and T was wearing flipflops. they had walked from Glorietta (ayala) to our Apartment (evangelista), they never made it to work...elsewhere the death toll was rising, some are still not rescued, and it was still raining. another major calamity :(

here are a few pictures i got from friends at FB.

More than 330,000 people were affected by storm, including some 59,000 people who were brought to about 100 schools, churches and other evacuation shelters, officials said. Troops, police and volunteers have so far been able to rescue more than 5,100 people.

The 16.7 inches (42.4 centimeters) of rain that swamped metropolitan Manila in just 12 hours on Saturday exceeded the 15.4-inch (39.2-centimeter) average for all of September. The rainfall also broke the previous record of 13.2 inches (33.4 centimeters), which fell in a 24-hour period in June 1967.

Ketsana "ONDOY", which packed winds of 53 miles per hour (85 kilometers) with gusts of up to 63 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour), hit land early Saturday then roared across the main northern Luzon island toward the South China Sea.

It's the 15th of about 20 typhoons and storms that forecasters expect will lash the country this year. Death toll has reached 100+ and more people are missing.

HELP

RELIEF/SHELTER/DONATIONS:
-
Red Cross donation through SMS: text REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart) or contact your local Red Cross Chapters on how to Donate.
-
FRIENDS IN THE US AND CANADA WHO WISH TO HELP IN THE RESCUE/RELIEF OPERATIONS,YOU MAY DONATE THROUGH THE AMERICAN RED CROSS. CALL 1-800-435-7669. DONATE THRU THE RED CROSS RESCUE AND RELIEF OPERATIONS OR pinoys abroad they can DONATE THROUGH TXTPOWER'S PAYPAL! http://bit.ly/hQtKH
-
You may also deposit your donations directly to ABS-CBN Foundation's Banco de Oro account:
*Branch Name: BDO Mother Ignacia
Account Name: ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc.
Account #: 5630060113
-
Relief Goods can be sent to Caritas Manila Office at Jesus St., Pandacan Manila near Nagtahan Bridge (tel.no. 5639298/5639308). Relief goods can also be brought Radio Veritas at Veritas Tower West Ave. Corner EDSA (tel no. 9257931-40).
-
Aquino volunteers: contact Jiggy Cruz who is organizing relief goods collection and distribution. Or call Ms. Clare Amador at mobile no 09285205508 or Jana Vicente at 09285205499 for more details regarding Noy/Mar relief efforts.
-
Roxas volunteers: donations for flood relief can be brought to Balay, Expo Centro, Edsa cor. Gen, MacArthur, Araneta Center, Cubao.
-
Victory Fort is opening its doors to those affected by the typhoon. Call 813-FORT
Charo Limaco has posted a list of specific items needed and where to donate them:
Water, blankets, shoes, and clothes etc.. are being accepted at the Hillsborough Village chapel for families whose houses were washed out in the nearby sitios.
–
Donations of any kind for Payatas communities affected by Ondoy accepted at ARANAZ stores in Rockwell & Greenbelt.
–
TeamManila stores in Trinoma, Mall of Asia, Jupiter Bel-Air and Rockwell shall be accepting relief goods (Canned Goods, Ready-to-drink Milk, Bottled Water and Clothes) for distribution by Veritas to displaced countrymen due to Typhoon Ondoy.
–
Caritas Manila Office and Radio Veritas (see above) appealing for the following goods: Canned food, rice, used clothes especially for children, milk
–
From Kuya Ed Ramirez: SLBTFN is accepting donations already. Please drop it off sa Ateneo Cervini Dorm. Then we will work with groups around the area to assess w/c evacuation center needs help immediately. SLBTFN is Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Task Force Noah, a disaster response arm.