A tragic event: Typhoon Ondoy, 26-Sep-09

On September 26, 2009, a typhoon named Ondoy (International codename: Ketsana) hit Metro-Manila and dumped 13.5 inches of rain within 6 hours—one month's worth of rain in one afternoon... and kept raining at this pace for days.

It's population of 11,553,427 was caught unaware. Extremely heavy and relentless rain caused rivers, lakes, estuaries, and creeks to burst their banks and collapse dykes. Clogged sewers, poor drainage aggravated the situation. Roads and hi-ways turned into fast flowing rivers.

My brother was a victim of this typhoon. He and his wife stayed safe on the second floor of their house as the waters rose. The flood waters were five feet high. My other brother braved the floods with relief supplies to come to the aid of my stranded sibling. By ingenuity, perseverance, and God's graces, they all made it out. They are now safe at our ancestral home.

Others were not so lucky. Several persons drowned in my brother's neighborhood.

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Notes for comparison:

Average annual rainfall

Manila: 80"/year

New Orleans: 51"/year

Seattle: 36"/year

Population

Manila: 11,553,427

Seattle: 582, 454

New Orleans: 311,853

Population density

Manila: 26,774/sq mi

Seattle: 6,717/sq mi

New Orleans: 2,518/sq mi

Area

Manila: 256 sq mi

Seattle: 142.5 sq mi

New Orleans: 4,190 sq mi

Philippines, Philippine, Pilipino, Filipino, Filipina

A little clarification of the use of the following:

Philippines

• The only predominantly Catholic country in Asia
• Home to the Filipinos, a predominantly Malay race, intermingled with Chinese, Spanish, American peoples
• It was from 1500's to the early 20th century, a cross roads of inter-continental commerce
• A collection of Kingdoms before the Spanish
• Datu (King) Lapu-lapu killed Ferdinand Magellan in battle after burning his village for refusing to bowing to Spain's authority
• A Spanish colony for 333 years
• An American colony for 50 years
• The inventors of "People Power"

Philippine

• Anything pertaining to, belonging to, or originating from the Philippines

Pilipino

• The national language of the Philippines
• Predominantly based on Tagalog, one of the major dialects of the Philippines
• a.k.a. Filipino

Filipino

• A person from the Philippines, spelled in English
• The language of the Philippines, spelled in English
• A Filipino man

Filipina

• A Filipino woman