Hey all- Not all of you know that my parents live in Legaspi (Philippines). For those of you who have been following recent world news (WHAT?!! YOU MISSED IT?), a typhoon (hurricane if it is in the Atlantic) with winds up to 175mph struck the Philippines last Wednesday. The worst of the storm pretty much centered itself on the town my parents live right next to.
My parents retired last year to my dad's favorite volcano (he is a volcanologist), Mt Mayon.
When the typhoon hit, the combined wind, torrential rainfall and already soaked ground created a lot of landslides. Current death toll estimates are at around 1000. Between my parents house and Legaspi there were at least 7 significant ones. I'll stop blathering on and post my parents update.
December 1, 2006
Hi folks,
Hi folks,
Chris here. Just a quick note to let everyone know that we're OK after the typhoon. It was a bad storm -- worst we've ever seen, said to be worst since Typhoon Trix in 1952. Clobbered everyone. We were a bit nervous in our beach house after landslides from our yard onto the beach left and right of the house, a hole under the front door landing, and waves up onto the deck. Mostly, the beachhouse stood up OK though one big window pane blew out (we anticipated it and were safe in the bathroom from flying glass). Stuff on the floor got wet; most of our beachhouse stuff was up on risers and covered so it's OK. Just got our internet connnection back up and running after realigning the dish. Lots of holes in the roof, temporarily covered with tarps. Ditto up in the garage/office/Cantoria family quarters. All the windows in my office blew out so typhoon inside and out. Library and everything else we had stored up there is sopping wet. Soggy mess 3-4 - deep through whole office; starting to plow through it now to save what can be saved. New plastic roof on our new house ... along with rest of that structure still under construction, came through OK. Our boats (ours, our carpenter's and Arles' Cantoria's) all dashed to pieces on the rocks. Sayang, we were just 2-3 months shy of being able to protect everything. %(@*$ VERY frustrating. But, we're luckier than most. Nearly all roofs in Salvacion and the main town blew off. People were joking as they dried their clothes on downed power lines that it was like one continuous "ukay-ukay" -- a makeshift used clothing store. No one in Salvacion killed but several in nearby villages, and bodies washed ashore here, probably from villages across the foot of Mayon that got swept and buried by lahars. Death toll in Sto Domingo is at least 30, probably more; early news reports suggest close to 400 deaths in Albay, fewer in Camarines Sur. At least 300 dead from lahars in other villages of Mayon, too. We don't have cell signal yet for Globe so we don't know yet about rest of family in Naga. Will try using Smart network. Uncle Leo had flood through his house (and rest of Legazpi) chest high, so lots of damage there. His car was under mud. Good thing his house is 2-stories. Roads are mostly blocked by lahar and landslide deposits, or washed out. Walked 4 km into Sto Domingo yesterday and there are 7 pretty good sized landslides that will take some time to clear. The nice forests of Sto Domingo are totally stripped. Road between Legazpi and Tabaco (and Sto Domingo) still out too, though I expect they'll get that one opened today or tomorrow. OK, enough for this first note... we're lucky to have generator and satellite dish... and water and enough food. Many neighbors will need help.
So you can see they're doing ok. Pizza and I have been talking with the choir at St James (my new employer, although its not really like working) and will hopefully get some sort of relief fund set up that we can send to my parents so they can help by villagers new boats and things that will help reinstate an income for those who have none now. {Pizza just bought a website www.typhoonhelp.org) Maybe we can figure out how to set up some account somewhere....anyone know about finance laws and stuff? Below is another email from my dad about funding relief efforts.
December 3, 2006
Ailisa, This is very helpful! Thanks! I think survivors in villages with lots of deaths will get govt aid but probably not ours, and lots of folks here will be really hurting. Opportunities include $ to buy new fishing boats (P3000, $60 for a small one; up to 10x more for motorized ones). Small OK for now. Money for new roofs (nearly everyone lost theirs) -- minimum cost about $100 for thatch, 500 for galanized iron). Money for Glen's clinic (lots of folks coming for medicines we can buy locally). Money to help out with college tuition (at least half dozen families here have kids in college and they aren't going to be able to continue unless we can help them -- tuition for rest of the school year is about P15000 or $300 per student). People will probably figure out how to subsist ... bananas, sweet potatoes, etc, even though even those got hit hard. But these bigger items are going to be tough for most. Almost no one has any savings and most everyone has lost their immediate source of income (fishing, farming). We haven't established links yet with a 501 c 3 charity so we can't offer a tax deduction or any accounting other than just our own good faith (and photos) if you send money to us to distribute. Alternatively, I'm sure that the Red Cross and others will be putting donations to good use in other villages. Whatever you can send, whether to us or to a normal charity, will be much appreciated! This storm was really bad. Love, Chris
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