AlertNet Blogs

Getting help to devastated Vietnam villages

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:28:00 +0000

This blog is written by Nick Finney, Deputy Team Leader of Save the Children's Cyclone Ketsana emergency response.

5th October

The day starts with some coffee, fried eggs and some fresh bread in a dusty roadside café. I can be happy anywhere with that combination.

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Heavy rains threaten Vietnam relief efforts

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:36:00 +0000

This blog is written by Nick Finney, Deputy Team Leader of Save the Children's Cyclone Ketsana emergency response.

Thurs 1st Oct, Hanoi

I arrived in Hanoi about 36 hours after storm lashed the coast of central Vietnam. The typhoon brought very strong winds but also dumped an enormous amount of rain after landfall. Our team has already jumped into action, Typhoon Ketsana hitting several provinces where we were already working to improve the situation of poorer children and families in Vietnam.

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Super-typhoon causes fear and panic in Philippines

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Celso Dulce is CARE's Project Representative in the Philippines, and he is leading CARE's emergency response to Typhoon Ketsana in Manila. Celso is from Manila.

Oct. 2, 2009

It started to rain a few hours ago, and it's dark. Today we were supporting the government order to evacuate people from high-risk areas as a precautionary measure. I just returned from securing the warehouses for relief distribution, because the goods might be damaged. Another storm is coming. We don't know how bad, but the rain is getting harder.

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The failure to prepare for disasters in Asia Pacific

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:01:00 +0000

This blog is written by Mike Goodhand, Head of Disaster Management at the British Red Cross

As the world wakes up to news of an ever growing death toll in the Asia Pacific region, questions are being asked about why more deaths could not have been prevented. This, the most disaster prone region in the world, has once again been torn apart by a series of natural disasters which have killed hundreds.

In response, a massive global emergency response operation has been mounted to help reach those in need. But questions remain about why some of those communities affected were not effectively pre-warned. In a world of technological advances - when experts predict tsunamis and typhoons before they occur - why do the messages not reach everyone at risk in time to get them out of harms way?

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Philippines: Flooding documented on citizen videos

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:35:34 +0000

Picture from Twitpic user reahguevarra

Several parts of Metro Manila and nearby provinces are still flooded today even if Tropical Storm Ondoy (International name: Ketsana) has already left the country. Almost 200 were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced when the storm hit the countrys capital last Saturday.

The heavy rainfall triggered the worst flooding in the country in recent memory. The storm even dumped more rains than Hurricane Katrina:

RT @wizkitabet: FACT: Hurricane Katrina rainfall =380mm in Louisiana. Typhoon Ondoy rainfall = 410mm in Manila, Philippines.

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Philippines: Worst Flooding in 40 Years

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:20:14 +0000

More than 50 people were killed after tropical storm Ondoy (International Name: Ketsana) battered Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The storm triggered the worst flooding in the country in the past 40 years displacing 280,000 people in Manila and five other provinces, with more than 41,000 people in 92 evacuation centers. As of this writing, 1.2 million residents are still without power supply in the urban capital of the Philippines.

Social media sites were maximized not just to share information about the storm but also to report rescue efforts and emergency cases in disaster-struck areas. Joey Alarilla observes how the internet was used by Filipino netizens as the storm hits Metro Manila

Im blogging this using a prepaid HSDPA USB modem as our condominium still has no electricity after several hours, yet Im luckier than many of my countrymen, some of whom are still stranded on the road or even on the rooftops of their houses

Twitter and social networking sites such as Facebook have been the main means Filipino Internet users have kept pace with developments and shared information, such as the text numbers for disaster relief agencies and volunteer organizations now that voice networks are clogged.

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Obama, Hu and climate change: a question of who leads

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:25:00 +0000

What just happened? - it might be a good question to ask about the UN climate summit convened by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last Tuesday. "Not a lot" is the most likely answer.

Hu smiled... ...

Bangladesh: Uncultured Project and Clean Water

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:18:38 +0000

Last year, when we checked on the Uncultured Project was delivering aid to victims of the Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, but Shawns efforts to help havent stopped since. After helping last year, he got sick and returned to Canada, and after a few months there he returned to continue helping out around Bangladesh, along with Save the Children and donations from fans from all over the world.

From Shawns blog, he reports:

Since I landed, Ive been trying to complete projects related to Challenge Poverty. As you know, Ive been working on building that Pond Sand Filter and repairing that school. Its been nearly 6 months and I want to wrap everything up in the next 72 hours. Yeah. that maybe a bit ambitious. Fingers crossed.

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Dominica, Haiti: Hurricane Preparedness

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:11:35 +0000

Dominica Weekly wonders if the island is prepared for the 2009 hurricane season, while Konbit Pou Ayiti fears that Haiti is not ready for the rain.

Climate talks need a dose of top-level political will

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:25:00 +0000

The latest round of U.N. climate negotiations, which took place at the beginning of June in Bonn, marked the start of the negotiating countdown to Copenhagen. The session focused on the first discussions of the 50-page draft negotiating text for a Copenhagen Agreement, which was published two weeks prior to the session.

Bonn II did not bring much substantial debate on the content of this text, but countries raised their reservations, which helped identify gaps in the positions. They were also invited to add text where they felt their views weren't adequately reflected.

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