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FROM THE FIELD

Philippines Floods Leave Poor Children and Families Homeless
29 Sep 2009 13:20:00 GMT
Source: Children International - USA
Deron Denton

Website: Website: http://www.children.org

Scores of people died in raging waters that rose several feet in a matter of hours.
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Scores of people died in raging waters that rose several feet in a matter of hours.
Children International - Philippines, Carmelinda Carpio
Relief efforts are underway after flooding in Quezon City and Manila leaves more than 300,000 people affected. Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization working on the ground in Manila and Quezon City, report that thousands of poor families have lost their homes or belongings.

Children International's President and CEO Jim Cook said, "We are very concerned about the children and families whose meager belongings have been washed away by Ketsana. Children International will be providing emergency support to our sponsored children and their families whose lives were already challenged by extreme poverty."

The worst flooding to hit Manila in 40 years has claimed more than 240 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people in the Philippines.

The rains began Friday, September 25, as Typhoon Ketsana bore down on the island nation. Heavy rains continued through Saturday, inundating Manila and Quezon City with the equivalent of a month of rain in just six hours. By Sunday, over 80 percent of the metropolitan area was under water.

At this time, we have no reports of serious injury or death to sponsored children. However, thousands of families in our sponsorship program are known to have been affected. That number is likely to rise as staff and volunteers conduct assessments in previously inaccessible communities.

Children International staff are on the ground, continuing to gather information about the safety and welfare of our sponsorship families. Staff in Quezon City and Manila are prepared to disburse emergency supplies. They also report that, except for one badly damaged community center, our health clinics are open and there are ample supplies of medicines available at all service area centers.

Scores of people died in raging waters that rose several feet in a matter of hours. Photo provided by Carmelinda Carpio, of our Quezon City, Philippines, agency.

It is Children International's policy to contact sponsors when we can verify that their sponsored child has been directly impacted by a disaster. We expect to receive regular updates from the field.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]


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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Residents walk through mud caused by Typhoon Ketsana, locally known as Ondoy, in Montalban Rizal, west of Manila September 29, 2009. Philippine authorities braced on Tuesday for another storm as the ...



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Last updated:Tue Sep 29 13:55:10 2009