Philippines flooding

In all, an estimated 7 million were affected by the storms – more than a quarter of a million are still in evacuation centres. The first storm – Typhoon Parma (Pepeng) damaged 26,175 houses, of which 3,132 are uninhabitable. Tropical storm Ketsana (Ondoy) then damaged 101,278 homes, with 25,259 made uninhabitable.Together, the two storms wreaked an estimated Php$10,450 billion-worth of havoc on the nation’s infrastructure and agriculture.

As always, it is the real-life stories that hit home. Michael Quezon – our outgoing Pavement Project Coordinator in the Philippines – told us:

“We were very much affected. The flood was first time in our place. Nobody anticipated it. But still we thank God that He spared all our lives. And now everybody is starting to cope and trying to normalize life … We have relatives that have been devastated with the second storm. All of the farms and agriculture has been drown[ed]. But thank God also that their life was spared. Only their possessions have been severely damaged.”

Philippines flooding

On 11 October, Rachel Sanchez of Pavement Project partners, the Jesus Loves the Little Children Foundation, wrote in the aftermath of Tropical storm Ketsana (known locally as Ondoy):

“We are still experien

cing the havoc it created upon us and our environment. We are sorrowful every time we hear stories of loss, death, churches ruined, businesses destroyed, families dislocated, houses wiped out, furnishings filled with mud and so on.

“In the JLLCF Children’s Home the water is still thigh-high … the water is not receding as quickly as it should. It’s stagnant, filthy, poisonous and smelly. The poor people are walking in this water daily to get to work, school, home or to their place of activity. The rafts fee is extremely expensive so they would rather walk through the dirty water and risk their lives without considering that they could infect their bodies with various water-borne diseases. The stagnant waters, floating containers and plastic bottles are breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying dengue virus.

Philippines flooding

“JLLCF School is still underwater. Other schools could not open their doors because they are still housing hundreds of evacuees. Life here … is very miserable. Everyone is very much affected … We assume this hardship will last for another month.

“Meantime, food, commodities and services are getting very expensive. Thank God for the continuous flow of relief goods for the children, the poor and the needy. JLLCF packed and distributed 1,000 bags of assorted canned goods, rice, noodles, bottled water, sugar, coffee, bread, biscuits, milk, medicine and clothes to different areas …

“There are still a lot of goods to distribute and work to do … Let us partner together to restore broken houses and broken lives. Your help matters now!”

• Please pray for Michael, Rachel and their families.
• Pray for the Jesus Loves Little Children Foundation as they deal with the damage caused and try to serve their community.
• Pray for the people of the Philippines as they begin to rebuild after this disaster.

The pictures from JLLCF show crowds pushing through the school gates to get supplies, and the extent of the sheer weight of water that the storms brought – Storm Ketsana alone dropping the heaviest single day of rain on the capital, Manila, for more than 40 years.