MANILA - When the worst flooding in 40 years hit the Philippines, cutting off power and shutting down mobile phone networks in many areas, tech-savvy locals turned to the Internet's social networking sites to get information flowing about friends, neighbours and strangers stuck in the rising waters.
In the critical hours that followed, residents of Greater Manila who had been overwhelmed by twice the amount of rain that fell during Hurricane Katrina in 2006 used sites such as Twitter and Facebook to mobilise help to rescue those stranded on rooftops and highways.
Since the disaster struck on Sept. 26, killing nearly 300 people and uprooting 500,000 more, Internet users have supplemented the government's own relief efforts by posting emergency hotline numbers, appeals for cash donations, requests for volunteers to man soup kitchens and even kayaks to ferry survivors on to higher land.
On Thursday, tweets or messages posted via Twitter were urging people to share photos of their missing relatives on the online photo sharing service Flickr.
"It's truly amazing seeing the power of communities, how these tools help bridge people to other people and the results of
filling gaps through a simple tweet," wrote Rob Angeles on the Social Media Philippines website. "Yes, Twitter did play an unexpected role once again in times of disaster. It transformed one Tweeting nation to a large scale rescue and relief operation."
Locals said the use of such technology to drive relief efforts was unprecedented in the Philippines where Internet users have risen to at least 14 million compared to 2 million in 2000 -- and likely to be repeated next time disaster hits one of the world's most disaster-prone nations.
The flooding was so widespread that initially mainstream media -- television networks and radio stations -- struggled to provide coverage.
Local media reported that thanks to the Internet, ordinary people were mobilised and responding to the floods well before the authorities and international aid agencies.
RALLYING SUPPORT
The Internet has been so successful in rallying support that the head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, Gilbert Teodoro has taken to tweeting updates on relief operations to offset what critics say has been the government's slow response.
"For people requesting urgent rescue, posting a status on Facebook or asking a message to be re-tweeted reached a lot of people faster. The message gets passed on and on until it reaches people who can actually help," said Twinkle De Los Reyes and Marie Rose Henson, who are behind Bayanihan Online ,a blog that collates real-time information from tweets, status messages and emails.
Since going live, the site has not only posted calls for donations and volunteers but disseminated messages about incidents of looting as well as examples of overpriced goods. However, the bloggers said they were wary of false information. "Which is why we need to be vigilant in using such tools," they added in emailed comments to AlertNet.
"Bayanihan" is a Filipino word derived from the word "bayan" meaning town, nation or community -- and refers to a spirit of pulling together. Many Filipinos credit this community spirit for an outpouring of assistance that has seen thousands of people volunteer to deliver food, water, blankets and medical kits to hundreds of evacuation centres.
"When things like this happen, we are all family," said Rocio Lista, 41, who helps pack relief goods as a Red Cross volunteer and spent 6 hours stranded on a highway during the floods. "Being in that situation made me open my eyes to the plight of others."
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME
The United Nations has issued a $74 million appeal to help one million people affected in some way by the flooding -- either from losing their homes or their means of earning a living.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that funds from bilateral partners totalled $7.33 million; $3.64 million from multilateral or regional organisations; $283,351 from international organisations and $150,000 from foreign charities.
Private donations from Filipinos abroad, overseas embassy staff and other individuals amounted to more than $78,200.
"Some of the relief donations we've been delivering are the private donations," Kristie Kenney, the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, told AlertNet. "In fact there's been so much food given that our disaster experts are saying food is no longer the priority, it's the non-food items. Again, that speaks really well. You don't see many countries where that happens."
The Banyanihan bloggers said reports about Typhoon Ketsana that triggered the flooding should not be about statistics -- death tolls and the amount of money lost in damaged property.
"The story behind our flooded cities and our destroyed houses is about being able to get up and begin again, and that we will face this rebuilding head on, side by side," they said.
Below are pictures taken by AlertNet correspondent Katie Nguyen on Oct 8, 2009 in the Philippines.
For more information put cursor over screen. For captions click on bottom right hand of screen.
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