Nearly 500 people have died these past weeks in the Philippines, and hundreds of thousands displaced, as a result of the devastating storms and floods.

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Just a week after tropical storm Ketsana triggered the worst flooding in 40 years in and around Manila, Typhoon Parma ripped through northern Luzon. On Saturday, September 27, in one 24-hour stretch, 16 inches of rain fell on the Philippines–twice the amount of rain that fell on the US during Hurricane Katrina. According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), well over 6 million people have been affected by the two storms.

Here in Hampton Roads we have a Filipino-American population of over 32,000. Many of us though are, like myself, first- or second-generation Filipinos who have traveled back only so many times and are only so connected with our motherland. In moments like these, we are reminded that even on the other side of the globe we are not so far from our homeland.

“I don’t know if Americans knew exactly how bad it was,” said Maria Lopez, who resides in Manila. “After the storms we went through the city and realized that no one would be able to live in some of those communities again.”

Lopez lamented the losses of the one million refugees in over 300 evacuation centers across the country. “Their livelihood is gone.”

“There’s one evacuation center the size of a basketball court,” she reported. “On one side are beds for people to sleep in. And on the other side are coffins.

“Can you imagine sleeping in a cot with your children crying, and five feet away are coffins?”

And on top of all of that, crime has risen as well, as a result of the devastation.

“Afterwards, there were looters,” said Lopez. “Everything that’s bad about society has come out. So not only have you lost a loved one, everything in your house is gone; as soon as the water went down they were stealing.”

For people with absolutely no Filipino heritage, hearing and reading about these tragedies from our warm and secure American homes is, I’m sure, beyond humbling. There’s no way for any of us to really understand the weight of a day-to-day existence in such shocking and close proximity to natural disaster.

With no insurance, no FEMA (not that it would necessarily help), and no real relief, these people (many of whom had next to nothing to begin with) have lost everything that they live for and have little chance to build it back up.

We can help.

• Call 1-800-4UNICEF or click here to visit UNICEF’s Philippines Floods page and make a donation to help the over 1 million children affected by the disaster.

• Donate to the International Red Cross and help them continue to put relief workers on the ground in the Philippines.

• Donate online to Operation USA, which is sending relief supplies to assist local health care agencies and NGOs in and around Manila, at www.opusa.org, by phone at 1.800.678.7255 or, by check made out to Operation USA, 3617 Hayden Ave, Suite A, Culver City, CA 90232.