A Sigh of Relief

A few of days back, my family and I were frantic with worry due to the situation in the Visayas. Reason being, my Aunt, cousins, niece and nephew all live in Tacloban. All lines of power and communication went out as Haiyan (Typhoon Yolanda) ravaged the region, leaving a massive trail of devastation. Lives and homes were lost by this tragic catastrophe.

Photo credit: NBCNews.com

Yesterday, as most people in the area laid their deceased loved ones to rest in a mass grave in Tacloban, my family finally got a message from my cousin that they are safe. My mother, and the rest of her siblings, got a huge sigh of relief to have found out that my aunt and her family are okay.

If you may have noticed in my last post, I posted an SOS to you all in case someone might have seen them in Tacloban during the rescue efforts. I am happy to say that they are fine now. Although they have lost their things, they are all alive and safe now. Their house was a mess, but still liveable. Only problem is, there are no lines yet for power and communication, no water, no food, and no meds. They have been travelling back and forth to Samar to get food rations from the relief operations so they could survive for the moment.

Haiyan victims rescued by C-130 planes have finally landed
in Villamor Airbase, Manila
(Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)

In this post, I also want to thank those who helped me and my family through links of lists, videos, etc. so I can identify if anyone in those videos were my relatives. Also, the nations who have sent help... THANK YOU. To the government institutions who aided the people--except for the politicos with other agenda than to help--the Armed Forces, police force, DOH, etc. I may be harsh in my words with some of those who sugarcoated the news about those people, hiding the real condition of the people to "avoid panic" for the victims' relatives, I still thank you for helping out those in need.

You can find relief facilities almost anywhere at the moment.
Please send your donations to Red Cross, nearby hospitals, schools,
fastfood establishments, banks, etc. to help out our
kababayans in the Visayas. :)

What I am asking you all right now is to please help the people in need. In cash, in kind or if you can volunteer. Doesn't matter how, but just please, help them in any way. We may have lost some of our stuff by giving them away, but it's the least we can do for those who have lost way more than just material things.

Happy Friday everyone. Our nation will get through this. Kapit lang.