In social media, a deluge of SOS messages

The reactions to the early Saturday morning rains started out innocently enough. There was the usual sigh of contentment at getting to sleep in on a cool rainy weekend. As the rains intensified, you can feel the distress pouring off status messages. "God, please make it stop raining." Not long after, it was evident that we weren't just contending with the usual amount of rainfall; rain was crashing down on all of us and everyone was aghast at how the flood waters began to rise all over Metro Manila, swallowing up EDSA, Katipunan, and basically every place you can think of. When cries of help began issuing from everyone everywhere, that's when everyone stopped simply wringing their hands in despair and started to take action. You have to be thankful for small miracles, one of them being the fact that the power lines didn't go down all over the city. Normally, a typhoon means no water and no electricity, but this time, it looked like many areas still had power, giving everyone a chance to find out exactly how bad things were out there and provide a constant stream of updates, making Typhoon Ondoy without a doubt the typhoon that has received the most coverage in the country's history.

Photos of major thoroughfares, cars, and houses being overrun by floods began pouring in, and as if those weren't enough to illustrate the magnitude of Ondoy's rage, people also started posting videos, many of them taken by those who were in the thick of the action and some people reporting from the MRT to show everyone the situation along EDSA. Everyone was appalled at the sight of Quiapo turning into a veritable river, water rushing into UERM's grounds, an underpass along Ayala Avenue filling up with water, vans and trucks being tossed around like toys and eventually swallowed up by the flood. People shook their heads at the sight of the damage inside houses and even at a photo of a food delivery man soldiering on despite the weather, with people calling the customer "heartless." Soon, Facebook status messages and tweets grew to become more than reports on the heavy rains and flood levels, transforming into something new altogether: disaster response hotlines. Almost instinctively, people began to post reports on what was happening in their neck of the woods. Those who found themselves perched on the second or third level of their homes to stay safe and dry from the flood waters were able to tell friends and loved ones that they were still alive, although very much worried. Eventually, people began to send out calls for friends and family who they haven't heard from, begging for updates. Anyone who knew someone in Provident Village, Marikina City and other stricken areas was putting out the call for rescue teams to get a move on. Things gradually became organized with GMANews.TV putting up a Bagyong Ondoy discussion group on its Facebook page and other people creating spreadsheets on Google Docs, where everyone can put in the names of missing people, their contact information, their address, and whether or not they have been found already. The constant influx of news kept people updated on the situation of people who were trapped in their homes and their rooftops. Word quickly spread that actress Cristine Reyes and her family were on the roof of their house; pictures of her sitting on the roof helped increase efforts to direct aid and rescue to Provident Village's residents. News trickled out that U.P. professor Brenda Fajardo, who was recovering from a heart attack, was trapped in the second floor of her New Manila house and was unable to save herself, and that Jean and Jennica Garcia were pleading for help from the second floor of their home in Vista Real Classica. There were also reports of people stuck in trees to avoid the flood waters, such as a nanny and her ward as well as basketball coach Koy Banal. Internet users also heard about stories of rescue and courage, like that of 18-year-old Muelmar Magallanes who saved more than 30 people from his neighborhood and lost his life after saving a mother and her six-month-old daughter. Because phone lines and mobile networks were on the blink, people in the worst-hit areas who have been out of touch for a day or two have also been able to let others know how they fared with Facebook updates. As cliché as it sounds, we all saw that our much-bragged about bayanihan spirit is well and truly alive online. Along with the stories of survival and brave rescues came, well, the type of news that we really didn't need to be hearing at a time of dire emergency. A photo of Mikey Arroyo purchasing liquor in a supermarket surfaced, to general dismay and jeering for being a shining example of good governance. National Defense Coordinating Council (NDCC) head (and presidential candidate) Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. received some flak for tweeting rather than doing his job, and has been denounced by some for missing the chance to show everyone what a strong and decisive leader he can be. Gloria's failings also floated to the top of the muck, with people posting links to news articles recalling that she dipped into the country's P800 million emergency fund. Well, even if some government officials weren't doing their jobs, the rest of the Filipinos were definitely picking up the slack. Online folks heaved a collective sigh of relief when news about more rescues and donations began filtering back, although everyone was still on the alert for more reports about people who have yet to be rescued, the two storms that are heading our way, and campaigning tactics, such as that of Senator Manny Villar's group, who sent Styrofoam-packed food labeled "Tulong Mula Kay Manny Villar" and bearing an orange sticker with his trademark check symbol, which many people found tasteless. People applauded all rescue work, even those by actors Jericho Rosales, who rode to the rescue of people--and a little dog, too--on a surfboard, and Gerald Anderson, who was checking on neighbors with his brother while neck-deep in flood water. Of course, not everyone online was possessed with the same fellow-feeling that has taken hold of people. Trolls in message boards saw fit to sneer at the tragedy, with some people even recommending that everyone stop sending in donations and aid because it gives politicians room to sit back and do nothing, since everyone else was pitching in anyway. A certain Jacqueline Bermejo even gained notoriety for a status update on her Facebook account, which stated, "buti n lng am hir in dubai! maybe so many sinners bak der! so yeah deserving wat hapend!" Insensitivity never goes unpunished online, and droves of people swarmed her Facebook profile and her Multiply account, condemning her for what she said, although she remained unrepentant, defiantly replying, "cuz of u dnt understand!!! judge me sige!!!kya ala kyong asenso. even nature now is making statement big time!!!" (sic) (A friend of Ms. Bermejo has spoken out, saying she was the victim of Facebook fraud and that she wrote no such thing, adding that Ms. Bermejo has since been inundated with angry messages and threats that she can't even leave her house anymore.) These hostile anomalies aside, everybody has been pitching in for the most part, calling for donations, directing people to shelters and evacuation centers, letting people know which roads are clear and which ones should be avoided. Even Hollywood celebrities and other well known personalities put the word out about the tragedy, with Demi Moore and Josh Groban tweeting about the tragedy and asking people to help out, and Paulo Coelho making a donation to the Philippine Red Cross. Right now, we are all still pretty much reeling from how much damage Ondoy has wrought and from the images and stories of people who have lost their homes, belongings, and even loved ones during the storm, and the Internet has been more than helpful in keeping all of us in touch with one another. My mother remembers experiencing what was then the worst storm to hit the city forty-two years ago. With the radio stations being unavailable and power lines having gone down, no one knew what was happening elsewhere, how loved ones were faring during the storm, how to get word out to receive aid, and if anyone is coming to help. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging, some people have been wondering whether we're all just too wired, too connected, too updated nowadays. But now, thanks to Typhoon Ondoy, we can safely say that there's no longer such a thing as being too connected these days. Best of all, the storm has also connected us all in a different way, making sure that we're all doing our part in looking after the victims of tragedy. - GMANews.TV