Philippines flood: Plan sends its team to the worst-hit communities
Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:51 GMT
Children’s organisation Plan International is sending a task force to the flood-hit communities in the Philippines.
More than 600 people are dead, and hundreds are missing, after Tropical Storm Washi swept through parts of Mindanao overnight on Friday. Almost 35,000 people are in evacuation centres in the city of Cagayan de Oro alone.
Even though Plan’s programme areas in Mindanao have escaped the devastation, the organisation’s emergencies team is rushing to the worst hit areas to formulate aid response.
"People are telling us the wall of water was as high as 30m," says Carin van der Hor, Plan’s Country Director in the Philippines.
"Most of the dead are children and women."
"We run a child soldier registration project in parts of Mindanao so our staff are trying to reach the young people we work with, as well as assessing damage in badly-affected areas."
The Southern island of Mindanao is usually spared the worst of the Philippines' annual storms.
Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities bore the brunt of the damage - with reports of whole communities swept out to sea.
"We have specialists on the ground in both cities. The scale of this disaster is unprecedented in this part of the Philippines," says Carin van der Hor.
"Survivors urgently need drinking water, food supplies and clothes - while relief teams need body bags."
ENDS
Media contact:
Leave a comment:
IMPORTANT: Your comment will not appear immediately as we vet all messages before publication. We don't publish comments that are racist or otherwise offensive. Nor do we publish comments that advertise products or services. Please keep your comment concise and do not write in capitals.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment