Pacfic Typhoon Ondoy (aka Tropical Storm Ketsana) is the name.
From what we know it sounds like the storm itself may be far worse in some respects than Hurricane Katrina. (Edit: As Doc Gonzo points out, this storm is less forceful and is not hitting an area with the same type of topography as NOLA, so in some respects, Katrina was definitely far worse than this. The rainfall was much heavier, though, than Katrina, while the windspeeds were much lower up to this point.) Yesterday, in the span of six hours, more than 13 inches of rain hit the Manila area, with rain continuing much longer at a somewhat slower rate. Rivers are overflowing catastrophically, much like the breached levees in NOLA. (Edit: Perhaps not in magnitude) I've been following the mess from a relative there, and she's been posting a lot of videos from people she knows.
CNN reported 41,00 were evacuated and there are at least 50 confirmed deaths reported, but that will certainly rise soon.
I've posted a few of the youtube videos I've seen so far, but as with the Iran crisis in June, there are a lot of videos that are posted publicly to Facebook accounts, but can't be embedded. OK, thanks to a commenter, I've got YouTube embeds for all now.
Recent update sent to me:
Some hospitals in Manila were submerged in water 2 floors deep. Waters are still chest-deep in some areas. :(
(FYI: This video understandably contains non-G-rated language)
Facebook links for those with accounts (let me know if you can't access, even if logged in):
Video 1 (Original link). Hospital parking lot overflowing, with someone trying to get out of his/her vehicle before sinks. (Thanks to Unenergy for providing embeddable versions)
Video 2 (Original link). A mall severely flooded.
Video 3 (Original Link). People escaping the floodwaters on a shuttle bus, which succeeds in crossing a stretch of very flooded highway.
According to one estimate, this is the worst storm to hit since 1967, which is no surprise with global warming...
340+ mm rainfall in 6hrs (8am-2pm) registered in Quezon City today. The worst since 1967. Hurricane Katrina dumped over an inch of rainfall in Louisiana for 3 hours and another 0.5 INCHES PER HOUR over the next 5 hours on August 29, 2005. Typhoon &am...p;qu...ot;Ondoy" dumped an average of 2.24 INCHES PER HOUR for six hours on September 26, 2009.
For those wondering, I don't know if there's a way for Americans to help yet, but maybe the Red Cross Philippines site would be useful anyway.
UPDATE @ 12:49 PM EDT: My aunt says the Red Cross link works for Americans looking to help, for the moment.
UPDATE II: Per a comment below:
UPDATE III: There's a Facebook album up of photos of people escaping (and those not fortunate enough who lost their lives). WARNING... if you couldn't look at the more horrific Katrina photos, don't look at the link.
UPDATE IV: I'm sorry it had to be this diary that topped the rec list, but I can't say I'm surprised with all the good people on Daily Kos. I'm glad I could get the word out. Thanks everyone.
Final Update tonight/concluding thoughts: It's approaching 3 AM on the US East Coast, so I will have to go to sleep now, but I may update tomorrow or start a new diary if warranted. For those who want to stay up longer or live further west, feel free to post updates in the comments, if you have any. Thanks again to everyone for reading this, even if it's depressing and tragic; it's essential to stay informed. We have big flooding in the Southeastern US and big flooding in the Philippines, and it's almost certainly connected because of global warming and global climate change. This is why we've got to do something big and do it fast.