Despite the disaster, we still have lots of things to be thankful for

The rain has stopped and the storm has passed. As we already know, life would never be the same for many of our kababayans. Some of them lost their loved ones while the fate of those missing are still unknown.

Meanwhile, thousands of families have lost their homes and hard-earned properties. The total number of casualties is yet to be determined while the total cost of damages is yet to be accounted for. What we do know is that the extent of human suffering we are all witnessing is totally unprecedented.

Up to now, many of our kababayans are hanging for their survival at their roofs (lest they'll be swept away by flood water). According to PAG-ASA, the amount of rainfall dumped by Typhoon Ondoy yesterday was the most the nation has experienced in 42 years. Before we forget, most of the situational reports that we are being fed with are coming almost solely from the Greater Manila Area.

We don't know yet how our counrtymen in Northern, Central and Southern Luzon bore the brunt of Ondoy. Oh, and what about the plight of those in evacuation centers (in not-so-good conditions, we must remember)?

Since our family lives in one of the higher points here in Quezon City, we never experienced getting submerged in the flood - despite the torrential rains. The most disturbance that Ondoy had caused in our household is the 14-hour brownout that we had to endure. Yes, I bemoan the fact that I wasn't able to see Chris Tiu on TV nor update my online accounts yesterday. And I wasn't able to attend the OpinyOn too. But who am I to complain?

How about you? the fact that you can read this post means that you still have a computer with you - with Internet access at that! Just imagine those who can't even use their cellphones to tell their relatives how they are. The time you spent in reading this article also means that you have some spare time, unlike those who had spent countless hours pondering how to survive.
Well, what I'm saying is that we still have a lot of things to be thankful for.

If we can, in one way or another, help those at need, please do so now. The various ways you can help can be seen on TV. That's the best thing we can do right now.