Tropical Storm Ketsana devastated the Philippines over the weekend. The storm dropped nearly 17 inches of rain, compared to the 10 from Hurricane Katrina, has killed at least 140 people and displaced about 150,000. In the midst of the destruction and chaos many fingers are being pointed. Once images and videos began to surface of stranded Filipinos government critiques soon followed. In its defensive, the government responded by saying that its relief efforts are not as bad as those of the American government during Katrina. President Gloria Arroyo believes that the government responded quickly compared to Katrina given the fact that they had more rain than Katrina. A report on Sunday interviewed Mr. Prisco Nilo, who runs the national weather agency. Mr. Nilo said of the citizens who did not heed his agency's warnings about the storm: "Instead of watching soap operas on TV, they should also watch the news."
While the government defends its position, there are still many critics. In one outraged blog post a statement was made saying, "the government poured money into the country's military instead of buying scientific equipment. The national weather agency does not even have a Doppler radar."
The government may have fallen short to most people's standards, but what reigned supreme? The Internet! Social networks to be exact. Although the storm cut power, telephone and water supplies, the Internet connections were not affected. It was Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube that first broadcasted details of the disaster. Bloggers turned post into resources for people needing help or places to make monetary donations. One individual used her Facebook like a "switchboard operator" connecting families with loved ones who had no cellphone signals. Google maps was even used to show exact pinpoints of individuals who were in need of assistance.
So while the Filipino government was busy one-upping the United States the rest of the world was helping its stranded citizens!
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/filipinos-document-their-katrina-online/?pagemode=print
By: Taylar Proctor
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