Tragedy

On Saturday, Tropical Storm Ondoy or Ketsana (depending on where you are) came through the heart of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. In the span of 12 hours 16.7 inches of rain fell. That is well over an month’s worth of rain. This flash flooding was actually never even a typhoon but because of the monsoon seasonal rains we are already experiencing this time of year, the slow moving nature of this tropical storm caused the worse flooding the Philippines has had in 40 years.

They estimate that close to 200 people have died and almost half a million are displaced due to the flooding and devastation. So many that had so little to begin with have literally lost everything. We feel so grateful that we are safe. Grateful that none of our household staff and their families were in areas that were hit hard. I can't even begin to imagine the work and rebuilding that will have to be done as the flood waters clear. As we went to the grocery store today to buy supplies to donate it was heartwarming to see almost everyone in the store doing the same as they bought cases and cases of needed food and supplies. If anyone is interested in donating to the relief effort, we are involved in many expat organizations that are helping charities in need and can make sure your money gets to where it is needed most. Just contact us. Below are some photos of the devastation. So hard to believe that some of the hardest hit are less than 8 miles from our house.