Stream of Ry

Hundreds lost their lives, billions worth of property lost, and the sheer amount of grief the typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) caused us will continue to worsen as the days go by. Augmented with the unimaginable insensitivity of some people, it can break you at times. It did, every single time I tried writing a blog post during the storm proper.

Despite all this, we Filipinos, as a people, learned something important. That we are capable of change in our own capacity. Just look at how netizens became both real and virtual life-savers, how we were able to assemble a large decentralized relief effort with minimal government support, how a large numbers of volunteers were more than willing to help*, I hope that we realize what we are capable of. I know, every person that helped in whatever form they were able to are at peace with themselves. I know I am. There is no more feeling of frustration and helplessness. I don’t feel my arms too, though, but that’s okay.

In the next few days though, here are the things that I expect (and pray to whoever that you pray to that I am wrong on the bad ones):

1. Crime rates will shoot up (they’ve started in Provident Village already)
2. People will panic buy (since Peping is incoming too)
3. Foodstuff prices will shoot up (due to destruction of the Visayas and Luzon area)
4. Furniture sales will shoot up (because everyone needs new ones?)
5. Medicine prices will go up (due to exhaustion of stocks, and increase in demand)
6. A lot of water-borne diseases will be much more proliferate.

* some relief centers were not accepting new volunteers, even. Here is a more detailed list (and nicer to look at, too.) of places you can volunteer in.