Prompt A Day | Do natural disasters bring out the best (or worst) i...

Twenty days and counting for 'Prompt A Day' challenge by Hive account@shadowspub. If you're at a loss as to what to write about, I suggest that you also sign up for this challenge. There are so many more of the prompts that I want to write about. Perhaps I'll get to do so soon. ^_

Today, I'm combining word prompt: all gone and journal/blogging prompt: Who are the people you most admire?

_{Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) [Public domain]}

The above photo was the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano, as captured by PHIVOLCS while monitoring the activities on the aforementioned volcano.

It has been a week since the incident happened. Thankfully, I do not reside anywhere within the vicinity of Taal Volcano. I have watched and monitored the news and saw the devastating effects on towns that are within the 14-km radius of Taal. According to the news, the towns of Agoncillo, Lemery, San Nicolas and Talisay in Batangas were badly affected.

_{Exec8 [CC BY-SA]}

I do not personally know anyone from these towns, but I feel bad for the folks who woke up one day to find their hard work all gone due to a natural disaster. I have only seen the photos on the news and online. The towns were practically covered in ashes and the whole landscape became gray. Folks were forced to evacuate for their safety.

In our case, we were warned of impending ashfall and to take the necessary precautions of wearing face masks for our health and safety. It turned out that not long after this announcement, there were sellers who practically tripled the prices of face masks, as the public made a mad rush to buy them. Business is business, but to take advantage of people during calamities is totally unacceptable. I mean, what kind of human beings were these selfish, greedy merchants??? Situations like the one above brought out the worst in some folks.

However, I do admire the most those who went out of their way to help victims in any way they can. There was one person whose story went viral that he was giving away free face masks for those in need. He was certainly not the only one, as there were others who rose up to the challenge of helping the victims who were displaced by this disaster. At times, natural disasters bring out the best in people.

At the moment, it's all wait and see as Taal Volcano seemed to have calmed down. However, PHIVOLCS has tweeted that Taal Volcano is still on Alert Level 4. The badly affected towns have become ghost towns as of the moment.

I certainly pray that the situation improves soon, so that the folks who were displaced would start their road to recovery. It is truly tough when the struggle is between man and nature. We have no choice but to adapt in order to survive.