Deeply Saddened About The Aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda

I don't know where to being as I try to write this post. I've watched the news only last night and looked at photos of the aftermath of the world's strongest typhoon ever recorded that battered my home country, the Philippines.

It pains me to see young kids, wet, hungry and confused. It wretches my heart to know so many people lost their lives and many more missing. I cannot fathom the feeling of seeing so much destruction caused by a singular event in a span of few hours. It is okay to lose the material stuff but what about the lives lost?

I wasn't able to sleep well last night thinking of all those bad things.  Many thoughts crossed my mind about why the Filipinos have to go through another deadly calamity when just few weeks ago, we dealt with a strong earthquake that claimed lives.

How much more calamities do we have to endure to say, enough is enough? Who are we to say that?

If only the corrupt officials used their ill-gotten wealth to build stronger infrastructure and dedicated state-of-the-art warning devices then at least, all our taxes were used for the betterment of these corrupt officials' constituent. But it's never the case. I don't think the government will ever learn. Get the billions of pesos squandered by Napoles and give it back to my countrymen!

I'm just angry, sad and really upset with everything that my countrymen is going through. I know I can only offer my prayers and donations at this point but I hope, my prayers and the millions more of people who pray with me that my countrymen will rise above all these. I pray that there will be no more calamities like this that will claim innocent lives. God spare the innocent...

(all photos from news.yahoo.com)

Not Quite Up And About

It's been more than a week since we got back from our eventful NYC vacation at the height of Hurricane Sandy. I'm still reeling and the jet lag is kicking in big time. BUT, I am missing NYC already.

Call me crazy but I love the place so much I just can't get enough of it, hurricane and all. I just hoped the natural calamity didn't happen while we were there because I was looking forward to enjoy that getaway.

I learned a valuable lesson here. Next time we travel, I will certainly make sure that I check the weather  forecast around the place, in the nearby states and even from nearby countries before we go. I have not fully recovered from scary experience but really thankful that we are all safe. I feel so bad for those who have lost their properties and loved ones. This whole thing only proved that nobody can mess with Mother Nature.

Earthquake Hits Luzon

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit Luzon (NW of Olongapo city) today, 25 July 2011 at 17:15 hours. No casualties have been reported so far.

Latest Quake to Hit New Zealand

A magnitude of 6.3 earthquake shook Christchurch, New Zealand today. 65 casualties have already been reported as of this time. The city was left in rubbles and ruins. Plenty of people are still trapped in the rubbles and rescue operations are currently happening.

We can recall that New Zealand was also badly hit last Sept. 4, 2010 with a magnitude of 7.1 earthquake. I offer my prayers to all of them. It is so disheartening that there has to be fatalities as this struck on the middle of the day in the city center.

Let us all offer our prayers to them and may the rescue operation be a success. 

Gearing Up for the Extreme Weather

Weather these days is just hard to predict and understand. In places where it usually don't snow, snowed. Moreover, places which experience cold season, albeit in a brief period of time, did not feel the winter at all. And that is what we are experiencing here in the UAE. The winter season is barely felt. I think it did not come.

I was reading the news a while ago and saw pictures of the flash flood in Saudi Arabia. Sure, the people in the Middle East region is not new to some rainfall but not torrential rains. People were not geared properly and they were not ready for calamities like that.

People still walk around the knee-high flood like it was ordinary puddle. They do not have proper overshoes to protect themselves from contaminants in the water or even water-borne disease.

Everyone must be educated on how to act when calamities such as this happen. They should know the rudiments of survival to be able to overcome this natural cause.

It has not rained hard in the UAE yet. After seeing the floods in Saudi Arabia, I think the people of UAE are quite relieved to have not felt the extreme weather at all.

Mexico Quake

I read from the news that a magnitude of 7.2 earthquake shook Mexico on Easter Sunday. Some were reported injured and a few perished. I did not follow the news this time as I am really spooked by all these natural calamities happening one after the other.

I am offering my prayers to the people of Mexico. I hope there will be no more ground shaking events to happen anywhere.

Two Earthquakes

Haiti has not fully recovered yet and another catastrophe has hit the world. Japan was hit by an earthquake on 26 February, 2010. It registered with a magnitude of 6.9 in the Richter Scale. The news is still hot when another quake hit Chile yesterday, 27 February and it registered 8.8. in the RS. Reports indicate that plenty of people perished in the Chilean earthquake.

I am not a harbinger of bad news but the signs are everywhere such as weather disturbances, political unrest, and economic downturn.

Let's all offer our prayers to the people of Japan and Chile. Tsunami alert has been raised on countries lying on the Pacific region. Please take heed.

Praying for Haiti

Our volunteer group here has barely recovered from the Ondoy incident in the Philippines. We are now gearing for another set of fund-raising activities and donations to aid the victims of the calamity in Haiti.

I was watching CNN a while ago. I knew I shouldn't have. My threshold for showing emotion is low that I cannot help but cry for their suffering. I pray that we all do our share to help these people who are still homeless, hungry, tired, sleep-deprived and broken. Do your part to reach out. Let's all help and pray for the people of Haiti.