Fri, 3 Dec 2004

World Vision is accepting donations for the Philippine floods: Ph: 0800 80 2000

World Vision rushes aid to typhoon victims

World Vision has begun distribution of relief goods to victims of four typhoons that have lashed the Philippine coastline, but the hardest hit remain inaccessible.

World Vision communications coordinator Pastor Joey Umali said today the agency was currently distributing aid to flood-hit villages surrounding Real but had yet to get supplies to the town itself.

Earlier this week staff reached Real by foot after traversing roads blocked to traffic by landslides, but had yet to find a means of transporting aid supplies into the town of 45,000, located three hours drive south of Manila.

Relief team leader Minnie Portales, speaking from Real, said conditions in the town were dire with no communications, no clean water and no electricity.

"People are already fighting for the available food," she said.

Ms Portales said there was also an urgent need to bury the dead lest their exposed bodies spark an outbreak of disease.

Mr Umali said World Vision was in urgent negotiations with the Philippine navy and airforce to transport relief items by boat and helicopter respectively. But he said the use of helicopters remained problematic because of their limited load carrying capacity.

"Sometimes not giving people enough is even more frustrating to them than not giving them anything at all," he said.

The World Vision relief packs contain 25 kilos of rice and five gallons of water plus noodles, sardines, bedding and a flashlight and is designed to last for three to four days.

An estimated 1,000 people are either dead or missing after torrential rains sent water, logs and mud cascading through the coastal towns of Real, Infanta and General Nakar. Rains and fierce winds have hampered relief efforts.

World Vision is accepting donations for the Philippine floods: Ph: 0800 80 2000

ENDS

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