⌛ Tropical Storm Ondoy

Reports arriving here in the UK of extreme flooding and many lives loss! (Metro Manila)
Has this affected Dumaguete and surrounding area's, if so how bad ?
Government requesting International Aid. I hope all is well for our members and their families.

 

Thank god my wife returned last weekend instead of this weekend.

She was in Las Pinas Luzon, Typhoon ondoy was compared to Katrina.

'Ondoy' like 'Katrina' | The Philippine Star >> News >> Headlines

 

I don't know if there have been personal injuries and/or serious damages to properties in Dumaguete and its surrounding area.
At my place, 24 km south of Dgte, some old coconut trees along the highway were destroyed by the heavy wind and felt across the highway.
Luckily no vehicle was passing at that moment.
Near our house a coconut tree felt down onto the electricity cable to our house.
I have not seen on my trips up and down Dgte serious damages.
Our beach has even not been 'touched' by the waves.
But maybe at other places in our area they have had less luck.

 

Google news, 3:00 AM your time.

BRUTAL is an understatement...

Hosted by Back to Google NewsPhilippine storm leaves 106 dead and missing
By JIM GOMEZ (AP) – 1 hour ago

MANILA, Philippines — Many Filipino villagers managed to save only the clothes on their backs but began to rebuild Sunday as the flood waters receded from a tropical storm that set off the worst flooding in the Philippine capital in 42 years and left about 80 dead.

Army troops, police and civilian volunteers plucked dead bodies from muddy flood waters and rescued drenched survivors from rooftops after Tropical Storm Ketsana tore through the northern Philippines a day earlier, leaving at least 106 people dead and missing.

Some residents began to clean up as the flood waters receded. Still, many parts of the capital remained flooded. A brief period of sunshine showed the extent of the devastation in many neighborhoods — destroyed houses, overturned vehicles, and roads covered in debris and mud.

Ketsana dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours, causing the government to declare a "state of calamity" in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces. The declaration allowed officials to use emergency funds for relief and rescue.

The rains swamped entire towns and set off landslides that have left at least 83 people dead and 23 others missing, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said. Garbage-choked drains and waterways, along with high tide, compounded the flooding, officials said.

Governor Joselito Mendoza of Bulacan province, north of the capital, said it was tragic that "people drowned in their own houses" as the storm raged.

Meteorologists say the Philippines' location in the northwestern Pacific puts it right in the pathway of the world's No. 1 typhoon generator. Doomed by geography and hobbled by poverty, the Philippines has long tried to minimize the damage caused by the 20 or so typhoons that hit the sprawling archipelago every year. Despite a combination of preparation and mitigation measures, high death tolls and destruction persist.

"We're back to zero," said Ronald Manlangit, a resident of Marikina city, a suburb of the capital, Manila. Floodwaters engulfed the ground floor of his home and drowned his TV set and other prized belongings. Still, he expressed relief that he managed to move his children to the second floor.

"Suddenly, all of our belongings were floating," the 30-year-old said. "If the water rose farther, all of us in the neighborhood would have been killed."

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo toured the devastated areas and prodded villagers to move on. She said the storm and the flooding were "an extreme event" that "strained our response capabilities to the limit but ultimately did not break us."

TV footage shot from a military helicopter showed drenched survivors still marooned on top of half-submerged passenger buses and rooftops in suburban Manila Sunday. Some dangerously clung to high-voltage power lines while others plodded through waist-high waters.

In Marikina, a rescuer gingerly lifted the mud-covered body of a child from a boat. An Associated Press photographer saw rescuers carry away four other bodies, including that of a woman found in a church in a flooded neighborhood.

Authorities deployed rescue teams on boats to save survivors.

More than 330,000 people were affected by storm, including some 59,000 people who were brought to about 100 schools, churches and other evacuation shelters, officials said. Troops, police and volunteers have so far been able to rescue more than 5,100 people, Teodoro said.

The 16.7 inches (42.4 centimeters) of rain that swamped metropolitan Manila in just 12 hours on Saturday exceeded the 15.4-inch (39.2-centimeter) average for all of September, chief government weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said. He said the rainfall also broke the previous record of 13.2 inches (33.4 centimeters), which fell in a 24-hour period in June 1967.

Ketsana, which packed winds of 53 miles per hour (85 kilometers) with gusts of up to 63 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour), hit land early Saturday then roared across the main northern Luzon island toward the South China Sea.

It's the 15th of about 20 typhoons and storms that forecasters expect will lash the country this year.

Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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People wade in the chest deep floodwater Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009 in suburban Cainta, east of Manila, Philippines. Rescuers plucked bodies from muddy floodwaters and scrambled to save drenched survivors on rooftops Sunday after a tropical storm tore through the northern Philippines and left 75 people dead or missing in the region's worst flooding in more than four decades. (AP Photo/Mike Alquinto)



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2:00pm your time....looks like a major cleanup ahead. Hope all is well...

Page last updated at 06:59 GMT, Monday, 28 September 2009 07:59 UK
Telephone and power services remain cut in some areas
Rescue workers are being overwhelmed by the scale of floods in the Philippines that are estimated to have killed at least 86 people, officials say.

The head of the National Disaster Co-ordinating Council, Anthony Golez, said available resources were being spread too thinly.

Torrential rains from Tropical Storm Ketsana flooded the capital Manila and nearby provinces on Saturday.

Some 80% of Manila is said to be under water, with 435,000 people displaced.

"We are concentrating on massive relief operations. The system is overwhelmed, local government units are overwhelmed," Mr Golez told reporters.

"We were used to helping one city, one or two provinces but now, they are following one after another. Our assets and people are spread too thinly."

Soldiers, police, medics and a huge number of volunteers were involved in the effort to help flood victims, authorities said.

Unconfirmed reports say dozens more bodies have been recovered, and one suggested the number of dead had risen to at least 100.

Telephone and power services in some parts of Manila remain cut, while local government officials said survivors in makeshift evacuation camps were desperately short of food, water and clothes.

'Calamity'

Over the weekend, the government declared a "state of calamity" in Manila and 25 provinces, allowing access to emergency funds.




In pictures: Philippine flood clear up
Eyewitness: Philippines floods
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo visited the devastated areas, appealing for calm over what she described as an "extreme event" and pleading for donations to aid rescue efforts.

Residents have been e-mailing the BBC with their experiences.

Ramil Digal Culle in Cavite City, south of Manila, says he spent the night with families trapped on rooftops without food and water.

"The mothers were at work when the flooding happened and they got stranded with me, unable to go home," he writes.

"Strange how I could have internet access during the disaster to describe this experience... while the government struggles with a scarcity of rescue equipment."

'Heroic rescuer'



Maria Luz Magallanes cries at the coffin of her son who rescued many people.
Muelmar Magallanes braved rampaging floods to rescue more than 30 people, but ended up sacrificing his own life, the AFP news agency reported.

The 18-year-old construction worker was hailed as a hero by family members and others he saved.

With the help of his older brother, Mr Magallenes tied a string around his waist and took his siblings to safety before going back to the house for his parents.

Then he decided go back to save neighbours trapped on rooftops.

Then he dived back in again when he saw a mother and her six-month-old baby daughter in the water.

"I didn't know that the current was so strong. In an instant, I was under water. We were going to die," the mother Menchie Penalosa told AFP.

"Then this man came from nowhere and grabbed us. He took us to where the other neighbours were, and then he was gone," she added.

Witnesses said an exhausted Mr Megallanes was simply swept away by the water.

"I am going to be forever grateful to Muelmar. He gave his life for my baby. I will never forget his sacrifice, " said Ms Penalosa.

His father Samuel said: "He always had a good heart. We had already been saved. But he decided to go back one last time for the girl."

Some officials are quoted as saying rubbish-choked drains and waterways, along with high tides, compounded the flooding.


Governor Joselito Mendoza of Bulacan province, north of the capital, said: "It was tragic that people drowned in their own houses as the storms raged."

The Philippines chief weather forecaster, Nathaniel Cruz, said more than 40cm (16in) of rain fell on Manila within 12 hours on Saturday, vastly exceeding the 39cm (15in) average for the month of September.

The previous record of just over 33cm (13in) in a 24 hour period was set in June 1967, Mr Cruz added. He had earlier blamed climate change for the mass downpours.

Ketsana, with winds of up to 100km/h, hit the Philippines early on Saturday, crossing the main northern Luzon island before heading out toward the South China Sea.

 

Hosted by Back to Google NewsPhilippine storm toll rises to 140 dead
By TERESA CEROJANO (AP) – 1 hour ago

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines appealed for international help Monday after a tropical storm killed 140 people in the country's north and warned a new storm could strike this week, with tens of thousands of citizens still displaced from their homes.

At least 32 people were reported missing, and authorities were still trying to verify scores of unconfirmed deaths, including in the hard-hit capital Manila and nearby Rizal province, where there were reports that about 99 more people had died, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.

Tens of thousands of residents, meanwhile, began a massive cleanup of the carnage left by Tropical Storm Ketsana, which struck Saturday, bringing the region's worst flooding in 42 years and triggering deadly landslides.

The extent of devastation became clearer Monday with mud-covered communities, cars upended on city streets and huge numbers of villagers without drinking water, food and power.

In Manila's suburban Marikina city, a sofa hung from electric wires.

Resident Jeff Aquino said floodwaters rose to his home's third floor at the height of the storm, when it dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours.

Aquino, his wife, three young children and two nephews spent that night on their roof without food and water, mixing infant formula for his 2-year-old twins with the falling rain.

"We thought it was the end for us," Aquino said.

Among those stranded by the floodwaters was young actress Christine Reyes, who was rescued by movie and TV heartthrob Richard Gutierrez from the rooftop of her home near Manila after she made a frantic call for help to a local TV network with her mobile phone.

"If the rains do not stop, the water will reach the roof. We do not know what to do. My mother doesn't know how to swim," she said, weeping.

Gutierrez, a close friend and Reyes' co-star in an upcoming movie, heard of her plight, borrowed an army speedboat and ferried Reyes, her mother and two young children to safety.

Since the storm struck, the government has declared a "state of calamity" in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, allowing officials to use emergency funds for relief and rescue.

The homes of more than 450,000 people were inundated. Some 115,000 of them were brought to about 200 schools, churches and other evacuation shelters, officials said. Troops, police and volunteers have been able to rescue more than 7,900 people so far, Teodoro said.

He told a news conference that help from foreign governments will ensure that the Philippine government can continue its relief work. Government welfare officials have begun focusing on providing food, medicine and other necessities to those in emergency shelters.

Teodoro said government forecasters have monitored a low pressure area over the Pacific that could develop into a storm and possibly hit the country later this week, he said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has said Ketsana and the flooding were "an extreme event" that "strained our response capabilities to the limit but ultimately did not break us."

The United States has donated $100,000 and deployed a military helicopter and five rubber boats manned by about 20 American soldiers from the country's south, where they have been providing counterterrorism training. The United Nations Children's Fund has also provided food and other aid.

Officials expected the death toll to rise as rescuers penetrate villages blocked off by floating cars and debris.

The 16.7 inches (42.4 centimeters) of rain that swamped metropolitan Manila in just 12 hours on Saturday exceeded the 15.4-inch (39.2-centimeter) average for all of September, chief government weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said.

Government forecasters tracked Ketsana moving toward Vietnam on Monday at about 372 miles (600 kilometers) west of the northern Philippines.

 

Updated: New York, Sep 28 17:45London, Sep 28 22:45Tokyo, Sep 29 06:45 SYMBOL LOOKUP Live TV Live Radio Mobile Podcasts

Philippines Seeks Aid as Death Toll From Tropical Storm Mounts

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By Francisco Alcuaz Jr. and Cecilia Yap

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines will seek humanitarian assistance as the death toll from a tropical storm climbed to 140, tens of thousands remained without water and power and another tropical depression threatened the country.

A tropical depression that may hit on Oct. 2 would “severely hamper” current search and rescue efforts, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said at a briefing in Manila. “The potential for a more serious situation is there and we cannot wait for that to happen.”

Teodoro, President Gloria Arroyo’s candidate to succeed her next year, said he was “warning” local officials to take “appropriate actions,” including forced evacuations.

Tropical Storm Ketsana, now heading for Vietnam, hit the Philippines two days ago, dropping the most rain on Manila and surrounding provinces in more than forty years. More than 450,000 were “affected” by the storm and floods, with more than 150,000 seeking refuge in 207 evacuation centers and other people’s homes, the government said. The storm dropped about 411 millimeters (16 inches) on northern Manila, exceeding the one- day record of 331 millimeters in 1967.

The death toll mounted as waters receded, allowing the government, Red Cross, local residents and other organizations to further their search and rescue operations.

President Arroyo will leave her official residence so it can be used for relief operations and even an evacuation site, officials said yesterday. Other candidates for next year’s presidential election used their networks to gather, pack and deliver bottled water, food and clothes to affected areas and evacuation centers.

Clean water, food, cooking gas and medicines are difficult to find, said Cora Guidote, a corporate executive helping in relief operations in Marikina, northern Manila.

Business at a Standstill

“The situation is pretty desperate,” she said. Business is “at a standstill because of mud and muck everywhere. People are tired of cleaning with very little sleep. Kids and old people are getting sick.”

More than 50,000 homes remain without water, according to Manila Water Co., which serves the eastern part of the capital and Rizal province, and Maynilad Water Services Inc., which serves the west. Water supply dropped by as much as 15 percent as the rains increased water pressure, making it murky, and floods submerged or damaged pumps and tanks.

“It was potable but people were afraid to drink,” Maynilad President Rogelio Singson said in a phone interview, adding that they’ve advised everyone to boil their drinking water.

Both companies said they deployed water trucks to fill tanks and even go “house-to-house.” Maynilad also distributed bottled water in evacuation centers.

Power Cuts

Manila Electric Co. said about 132,000, or 3 percent of its customers, remained without power, which had been cut by the force of the flood or had been switched off to prevent electrocution. Restoration was impeded by remaining floodwaters, spokesman Joe Zaldarriaga said. “Safety of residents is our primary concern.”

Ketsana, which was called Ondoy in the Philippines, was over the South China Sea heading toward Vietnam today, according to the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning center. Ketsana has strengthened into a typhoon and was 250 nautical miles (463 kilometers) east of Hue at 3 p.m. Vietnamese time yesterday.

The storm dropped more than a month’s rain on northern Manila, the weather bureau said. About 411 millimeters (16 inches) fell there, exceeding the September monthly average of 391 millimeters and the bureau’s record for one day of 331 millimeters in 1967.

Landslides Around the Capital

As much as 25 percent of Manila experienced flooding, and the rains caused landslides in areas around the capital. Thousands sought refuge in upper floors and their roofs. Television broadcasts showed people being carried away by flood waters in Rizal province.

Waters receded to reveal parts of the city and surrounding areas covered in mud and debris, including chunks of concrete and asphalt road. Cars that were carried by waters were piled up, sometimes on top of each other. At least 1.41 billion pesos ($30 million) of infrastructure was damaged, the government said.

The piled-up cars made it harder for rescue teams to reach some areas, Defense Undersecretary Antonio Romero told reporters in Manila. Rescue efforts are being hampered by residents refusing to leave their homes and belongings.

Speeding up search and rescue became imperative as two tropical depressions formed over the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines and may threaten the country later this week as typhoons, according to the navy center.

Deadliest Storm

Tropical Depression 18W was 630 nautical miles east- southeast of the U.S. territory of Guam at 4 p.m. Philippine time yesterday. Tropical Depression 19W was located 235 nautical miles south of Guam, the center said.

Ketsana was the deadliest storm to hit the Philippines since Typhoon Fengshen, which slammed into the central Philippines in June last year, leaving 730 people dead and 637 missing, many being passengers on a capsized ship.

Schools in the capital, some of which are being used as evacuation centers, will remain shut today and may be closed again tomorrow, Teodoro said.

Hospitals and hospital equipment have been damaged by the floods, said Art Pesigan, an emergency relief adviser with the World Health Organization in Manila. The ground floor and basement of the agency itself had filled with water. The Red Cross earlier estimated deaths may be “several hundreds.”

The situation “is critical,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque said in a phone interview yesterday. “In every calamity, where you evacuate thousands, there’s always the threat of illnesses and outbreaks. We have a complex of health, nutrition and hunger challenges.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Francisco Alcuaz Jr. in Manila at falcuaz@bloomberg.net; Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net

 

This is a very tragic event. I have just read another storm could be a possibility on Friday. I have also read on Fox News(US) that the United States is donating a measly $100,000. This makes me embarassed as an American!!! They could send a couple of ships in there and deliver equipment and food and also have the capibilities to make fresh water. Instead were out trying to find some terrorist with millions on there head while we see muddy bodies of children pulled out of a river. Is there no concern for human life any more!!!

 

I agree! If they wouldn't have kicked out the American military they would have had built in disaster relief too! The Philippines as a whole is very shortsighted in my opinion.

 

Embarrassed as an American?

Please do Your Homework before calling Yourself Embarrased as an American.You are Retired Millitary,You should know better. If You look a little closer at the pictures Yahoo has posted for Typhoon Ondoy You'll notice that the U.S. Navy has already been helping out,and I'm sure more relief will be on the way. The U.S always helps out,and always will help out just like They have in the past. Unless of course Obama is too busy too care or too busy to realize what's going on elsewhere because He's still doing the talk show circuit.. Besides the U.S.,Lets just see what other Countries chip in to lend a helping hand?