Floods in the Philippines
Oct. 3rd, 2009 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenA friend of mine has been on assignment in Manila, Philippines, for the last 6-9 months following his lay-off by Bank of America (part of the financial fallout). Calamity sort of follows this guy and it's good he's such a courageous fellow. Of course, last week was the big flood in the Philippines and worst in Manila, so I wrote him a note to find out how he was doing. Here's his response:
"Last weekend I waded through 2 feet of water to get to the office and declare a 'business continuity event'. It was a huge day since 500 people died a couple kilometers from where I live. We had some local staff and we put them up in a hotel for the past week. About 10 people out of 50 lost everything they owned. Houses are filled with mud up to the 2nd floor. Houses were also carted away by the water. Of course, it had to be the most polluted and silt-filled river that caused the damage. Anyway, we were more prepared for this one, but thankfully it missed us. My electric has been off for 24 hours because of a construction dig nearby. All in all my staff had no loss of life and we're alright."
I figured he would be OK, since his company would be paying for a better living situation than the locals have (he's American). But similar to the people I knew affected in the tsunami a few years ago, when the news broke, my heart sank and I got a knot in my stomach. Glad to hear he's OK. Wonder to what extent the Mayan calendar is right?
"Last weekend I waded through 2 feet of water to get to the office and declare a 'business continuity event'. It was a huge day since 500 people died a couple kilometers from where I live. We had some local staff and we put them up in a hotel for the past week. About 10 people out of 50 lost everything they owned. Houses are filled with mud up to the 2nd floor. Houses were also carted away by the water. Of course, it had to be the most polluted and silt-filled river that caused the damage. Anyway, we were more prepared for this one, but thankfully it missed us. My electric has been off for 24 hours because of a construction dig nearby. All in all my staff had no loss of life and we're alright."
I figured he would be OK, since his company would be paying for a better living situation than the locals have (he's American). But similar to the people I knew affected in the tsunami a few years ago, when the news broke, my heart sank and I got a knot in my stomach. Glad to hear he's OK. Wonder to what extent the Mayan calendar is right?
