It’s the old Filipino practice of bayanihan, expressed in the age of Web 2.0. As strong winds, torrential rains and extensive flooding due to tropical storm “Ondoy" buffeted Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, Filipinos turned to various Internet sites not only for the latest news updates, but also to share information and to call for help.
The online world of social media became a convenient means to keep connected as land lines went busy, cell phone networks conked out, and government websites bogged down. In the microblogging site Twitter, for example, “Ondoy" and “NDCC" (the government’s National Disaster Coordinating Council) became top-trending topics on Saturday, mostly due to Filipinos twitting contact numbers of disaster relief agencies that they could contact for help. At another microblogging site, Plurk, Filipino users not only “plurked" emergency numbers but also suggested ways to channel donations to the disaster victims. “Let us reach out to the victims of typhoon Ondoy. In this time of need, every charitable act will matter," said a Filipina who goes by her username pearlychelle. The social networking site Facebook was also flooded with calls for help and wall posts on information about relief centers and hotline numbers. GMANews.TV’s Bagyong “Ondoy" Facebook page became an interactive bulletin board where Filipinos can post contact numbers, addresses, calls for help, inquiries and various messages of people stranded in flooded neighborhoods and buildings, vehicles trapped in gridlock, and travelers stuck in ports and terminals.
Rizal Gov. Casimiro Ynares III said the fatalities were from the towns of Tanay, Rodriguez (formerly Montalban) and Angono.
In an interview over radio dzRH late Saturday, Ynares said many more were missing in other towns but he could not yet give details.
Use to be a med student way back in the 80's. Never had the chance to experience this kind of flooding INSIDE UST. Espana gets flooded as always but never inside the campus. Wonder what happened to the taxes for flood control that the government keeps on collecting. More so on the many flood control projects that the government has been doing these so many years. Where did it all go? Your answer is as good as mine.But in retrospect, I expected the flooding to get worse as the years will go by. Why? all the watersheds around Metro Manila are now developed. Where are the trees? Montalban used to be a forest now all developers are in there building subdivisions. Hope that investors will not be attracted to live in the high ground for they will be contributing to the floods. So too with San Mateo. Antipolo is now a very urbanized area. Coupled with the many squatter shanties blocking Marikina River and Pasig River. Water has nowhere else to go but to the streets and residences of MetroManila. And the areas around Laguna Lake, towns lining from Rizal and LAguna province, that too, will be affected. Floodwaters will not subside till the rains stop. Looks like it is time for us to become Venice of Asia. Laguna Lake has no other outlet but the small silted, narrow Pasig River. Those floodgates are there to create flood. Temporary, costly and gargantuan solutions are to desilt Pasig River, remove all the shanties along the river, create another outlet for the lake (easier said than done) and plant a billion trees around the mountains of the Metropolis. Hopefully in a hundred years from now, (if we are able to stop global warming), Manila will not be flooded anymore. Pessimistic view? Hope I am dead wrong in my analysis.Global warming will be another issue which is too humongous for Metro Manila to deal with. If this factor isn't address the soonest, we can all forget about Metro Manila and watch it sink to the bottom of the water. This is the main cause. Kind of pessimistic of me...
ReplyDeletePeople should be careful because some roofs are flying away! The flood is very high!..
ReplyDeleteRescuers are focused on Marikina and Cainta area. Water subsided a bit in some areas bringing it to a waist-deep to chest-deep level.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t seen any list yet, but the last time I watched the TV, 10 were missing from Marikina alone and almost 60 people died already.
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