Philippines Typhoon Five Minutes from Modern
The Philippines Typhoon I believe has decided to sit on top of the North Luzon Island in the Philippines. The last time I was able to check it was moving at eight miles per hour. It has been blowing rain horizontally under the door of my room.
The wind, rain, noise has been blowing now for three days, I want it to BLOW OVER, and go away. I have no electricity. I cannot check the weather because of no television. Water is going to become scarce; I should drink bottle water now.
I am in a concrete room that was built about two feet above the ground level, all the water flows away from my room. If I can keep it from coming in the windows, my fortress of concrete protects me, I am one of the lucky ones.
I know within 50 meters of my room, there are people who live in squatty looking shacks, down hill from the road, downhill from everything, where I know their one room homes are full of water.
No Daily Bread
The Philippines is rich in water, this country is under the “Resource Curse,” food grows easy, it is plentiful.
Because food is plentiful, the people live one day a time; they do not keep cupboards full of canned foods. They live on fresh food, fish and plenty of rice. Their jobs are also one day at a time; the money they earn today buys the rice they eat tonight.
How do you earn money in the middle of a Typhoon, as best I can tell the business comes almost to a stop. The minimal scrounge money earned by the people at the bottom dries up and they stop having their daily rice. If the rain stops, all will return to normal, if it does not, they will slowly become poor. Nobody is going to starve, it takes more than a week to starve to death, but this situation is miserable. The weak, old, batter people are going to suffer, many will die. Saving up for a rainy day, this is good platitude, I know in the USA the savings is almost zero also, people are losing their houses because they lived hand to mouth, no savings.As best I can tell, the Philippines has plenty of food for their people, there is food everywhere to be purchased. However, they are not going to just give it to their neighbor. There are babies that will not be fed for a few days.
Well, I my computer battery is going to die; I need to post this and say goodbye. My life is great, normal stuff in countries like the Philippines. I know people forget, they try to equate this country, as being modern, even though it is 102 on the Human development scale, there is this idea all is great.
I can always walk from my modern Hotel room, with WIFI, Cable TV, Electricity and running water to poverty in 5 minutes. I can find a person who does not know how hot water works, who does not speak English, who earns 4 dollars per day. Just by making a five-minute walk in any direction I am in a different world. I find that most people want to say the Philippines is modern, I know as I type away on this computer in a dry concrete room, about 90 percent of the homes around me are drenched. One day at a time trying to fight the winds, rains and a Philippines Typhoon.
There has now been three Typhoons while I have been in the Philippines, this is not a new problem. Being defenseless and at the bottom is normal here, what is not normal is modern.
Five Minutes from Modern
I decided I need to prove it, to prove that I can walk five minutes from Modern in the Philippines and find flooded house wrapped up in poverty it is only 7:00 in the morning, not a nice day here in La Union, Philippines.
Five Typhoon Videos
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VIDEO BELOW
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Five Minutes from Modern
How Many Day it has Rained and Boiling Water
Philippines Never Ending Rain Pouring Down
People Sticking Their Heads out Windows, one House has 12 people in it. (Probably the best of the five.)
Mother with Four Children using dust pans to push water out of house and two babies being carried to Trikes.
If you do not see a video here it is because you are reading by email, click here to see video.
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VIDEO ABOVE
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I published the videos and this post from a Hotel with a Generator. And for some reason the Internet started to work just as I was finished preparing them...
It is still raining outside, an amazing amount of water drops out of these Philippines skies.
fruugal said on Friday October 9th, 2009 05:46:21 AM
Excellent set of videos! To the viewer, it puts us right there where the flooding was. Talk about up close and personal. Just a great job, well done and better video than on the tv news.
Andy, what a charming guy you are. That doesn't always come through in the written word. I know it wasn't intended, but your first video had me chuckling at your antics.
Just got internet after 4 days of no Globe broadband. Smart Bro USB from SM is
now set up on my laptop, and sitting here at Red Lion (defending against panic
beer drinking!!)..
Seriously, here is where we are. ALL ROADS IN AND OUT are CLOSED!! There is a
slight possibility one lane may open late monday on kennon road only. I will
assume no travel until late Tuesday or Wed.
Some panic buying has taken place, rice stock is nearly depleted. Some bread
available at SM mall, meat choice is VERY LIMITED and no poultry is left at all!
Vegetables are limited and will probably spoil if not purchased in the next day
or two.
There is no diesel fuel left anywhere. Most Jeepneys are shut down, some taxis
are still running but transport for public is very limited. All schools at all
levels are closed until thursday.
City water pumps lost electricity, but hope to be delivering some water in areas
where the water lines have not ruptured.
globe broadband, PLDT and Digitel internet are not working. Smart Bro works in
limited areas (I just got SmartBro USB to log on to the forum but may not have
signal after I leave red lion to go home down Asin rd at KM 3)
In Baguio over a 2 day period over 2,300mm of rain dumped on us, an incredible
6.5 feet in a 48 hour period that NO country or land mass could possibly handle.
The devastation is going to be long lasting and a terrible cost in lives and
agriculture will be borne by these farmers and families in the N. Luzon areas.
They opened Laoakan airfield to some relief supplies by air, but the real supply
transports may not make it up here until wed or thurs.
Just got word US Marine Amphibious group has flown many helicopters into La
Union/Pangasinan for relief and rescue operations this afternoon. This will
help the most desperately flooded victims down the hill.
Up here Paula Hall single handedly delivered emergency food and cash to the
blind school where a terrible landslide has killed many people and wrecked
bowkaken road. Extraordinary woman that Paula!!
Most expats are trying to meet the needs of their distant families with cash
transfers as we are all isolated from the rest of Luzon at this time.
I encourage all outside of the Philippines to lend your support to those
legitmate calls for help from the Red Cross, Unicef, VFW.
Down in LaUnion terrible flooding has engulfed La Union and over 90 of
Pangasinan. Some VFW members are wiped out of their homes and lost their
automobiles to flooding in Bauang and San Fernando.
We (VFW Post 9892 and Pup Tent 7 MOC) will meet next Monday and Tues. to assess
what funds we have and what priority missions we will have. this is assuming
travel for members will be possible to La Union from Baguio.
I will log in again when signal is available.
JD Keller
Sat Oct 10, 2009 11:58 pm
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