FACT@VCU News & Updates

Tropical Storm Washi/Sendong is the World’s Deadliest Storm

While you open your presents at the strike of midnight on Christmas morning, they’ll be opening caskets for the countless bodies floating throughout the flooded southern half of the country.

While you happily greet your loved ones “Happy Holidays” with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, they’ll be hugging the remains of the family members and friends they’d lost in the storm.

While you pick up the phone to ring in the New Year with your long-distance friends, they’ll be wishing they even had a means of communication with their own neighbors, who were left stranded in the rain.

“Death toll rises to 1,000” – The Christian Science Monitor

“World’s deadliest storm for 2011” – ABS-CBN

“Tens of thousands homeless” - The Guardian

I don’t mean to leave you drowning in these facts, but this is the truth. Know it. Don’t hide from it.

Pray for the Philippines. Keep on the lookout for charities. Donate as much as you can.

Click here for an interactive view of the storm’s aftermath.