Appeal for assistance for Typhoon Ondoy victims

For the entire weekend, Philippine cyberspace and mobilespace have both been working overtime: people are updating with weather reports, news on relief and donation drives, locations of people who still need help, and admonitions of more bad weather possibly coming in.

In an attempt to weave together the many tales of help-wanted and we're-ready-to-assist, Google has put together a page expressly for Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana): how to help, where to go, rescue operations, news and information, the works. Most of the information in this post therefore comes from that page, located at http://www.google.com/landing/typhoon-ondoy.html.

First off, an Ondoy situation map for Metro Manila, a volunteer-driven map plotting flood updates and persons who might still be in need of rescuing.



It's useful to note here that friends and fandom idols have even chimed in with calls for help and assistance. Neil Gaiman has already both tweeted and blogged on the subject - see this blog post: Bet you thought I was... oh hang on, I used that one already. Thank you, sir, for thinking of us even when you're recovering from the stresses of your trip and film shoot.

Important note and something else to prepare for: several news sites have broadcast the word that there may be more bad weather in store for the Philippines. Be prepared for that, too, and keep helping those who are still recovering from this one.

Be safe, everyone.