If I remember correctly, there are a couple board members in the Philippines

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MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines appealed for international help Monday after a tropical storm killed 140 people in the country's north and warned a new storm could strike this week, with tens of thousands of citizens still displaced from their homes.

At least 32 people were reported missing, and authorities were still trying to verify scores of unconfirmed deaths, including in the hard-hit capital Manila and nearby Rizal province, where there were reports that about 99 more people had died, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.

Tens of thousands of residents, meanwhile, began a massive cleanup of the carnage left by Tropical Storm Ketsana, which struck Saturday, bringing the region's worst flooding in 42 years and triggering deadly landslides.

I heard good news from Jay that despite some difficulties, he and his family are fine.

Those storms are one thing I do not miss at all. On the one hand, they were great when you're a kid cause that means school is out til further notice...but then you can't do anything cause of the storm so you're stuck inside...as the day goes by you realize the power is out. so you spend the rest of the evening making shadow puppets cause there really isn't anything else to do.
Also interesting to note that the storm is called a different name in the Philippines. Jay seems fine cause I see him posting on Facebook...and so are my cousins. I remember when I was about 10ish, we went to Unversal Studios and were on the tour tram. We got to the flash flood area and the water started coming and I was sitting there thinking "That's no flash flood...that's like someone cleaning the sidewalk with some water and a bucket."

Hi Liquidsky, thanks everyone!

Thanks for checking out on us...special mention to Geo who checked on me earlier.

The last typhoon hit us pretty bad....thousands lost their homes: big houses, small houses, no one was spared. We have appealed to the international community for humanitarian assistance as we will be needing every single bit of help.

The typhoon may have destroyed a lot of properties and claimed almost a hundred lives, but our compassion will remain stronger.

Regards!

Jay

Good to see that you and yours are safe Jay. Nate and I were wondering how SB members are doing back home.

I am probably the only household in my family that does not have TFC so I've been seeing snippets of what's going on at the market and online.

I am hearing that another system is headed to the island. Hoping that the damage and the loss of life will not be as bad as this one.

Good to hear you and your fam are alright Jay!

glad you're ok jay. saw little bits of the news on TFC, and it looks devastating. thankfully, my family over there doesnt live near the damage. my cousins in the PI are taking part in the relief programs that are happening.

wow...another filipino who doesn't have TFC!! Now I feel less ashamed for not having it....hahahahaha!!

this is really sad news and i hope everyone is safe.

LOL! I feel no shame. I said no to my mom when she asked it to be added to our cable. It would have been a great teaching tool for Nate to learn tagalog but..... I just couldn't do it. XD