[Philippines] Typhoon Ondoy Relief Efforts

The Philippines is no stranger to storms and typhoons - we're pretty much directly in the path of many of them and dealing with such weather phenomenons has shaped our culture and way of living. It's probably helped drive our strong sense of fatalism when it comes to such things along with the rise of the Catholic Church in this country.

That doesn't mean that the storms don't hit us hard or that we're immune to them. Each typhoon is unique in its effects whether it lasts for days on end or perhaps it brings fierce winds. This weekend the country was hit by what is locally known as Typhoon Ondoy and it brought the equivalent of a month's worth of rain within the span of 24 hours. Thus there was massive flooding all over the city and other parts of the country that has cost people their homes, their belongings and even their lives.

Google has set up a great page for information about the typhoon, where you can help out and where you can send relief goods and money. You can view that page here: Help for Typhoon Ondoy Victims in the Philippines.

If you're in the country, please make the effort to help out some how. There are many relief centers based in major schools, government offices or other such locations as mentioned in the aforementioned link. You can send your donations there or you can try checking with your local school or your office and ask about how you can help.

If you're not the country, help coordinate relief efforts or send donations using the links mentioned in the link above. Even celebrities like Neil Gaiman are asking for aid and support via Twitter and other such sites, which has been quite heartwarming in these troubled times.

I'm thankful for the strength of the human spirit and how amazing it is in terms of how the country has pulled together to help out. At the same time, my thoughts go out to all those in need and more so to those who lost their lives in this tragedy.