Helping typhoon victims in the Philippines

Int’l Red Cross seeks $8 million for typhoon aid to RP

Reuters

GENEVA – The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appealed for 8.3 million Swiss francs ($8 million) on Thursday to provide clean water and shelter to survivors of Typhoon Frank (international codename Fengshen) in the Philippines.

The world’s largest disaster relief agency said the funds would help 400,000 vulnerable people over the next three months, with the main priority being prevention of water-borne diseases including malaria, measles and diarrheal diseases.

More than 106,000 homes were destroyed by last Saturday’s storm, which killed at least 180 people and left 435 missing, according to a Federation statement.

The death toll was expected to rise as divers retrieve bodies from the Princess of the Stars, a ferry which capsized off Sibuyan island with 865 passengers and crew on board.

The typhoon defied weather predictions and took an unforeseen path across the archipelago, leaving little time for many communities to prepare, according to Roger Bracke, head of the Federation’s delegation in the Philippines.

“On the island of Panay, thousands of families were caught by surprise as flood waters forced them into tree branches or onto the roofs of their homes,” he said.

Roughly 1 million people have been affected by the typhoon, according to the Federation.