PHILIPPINES: Typhoon Assessment - On the Ground

A HODR assessment team is on the ground in the Philippines following severe flooding from Typhoon/Tropical Storm Ketsana (local name: Ondoy). International Operations Director Marc Young and Project Director Stefanie Chang arrived in Manila on Sunday, October 4. The team is visiting the affected areas, meeting with local government units, and seeking to build partnerships within the NGO community. We are also monitoring the earthquake and tsunami situations in Indonesia, American Samoa and Western Samoa, and will determine further action in response to those disasters over the next several days as information becomes available.

Typhoon Ketsana inundated central Luzon on Saturday, September 27, 2009, and an extensive area has experienced unprecedented flooding. The National Disaster Coordinating Council reports that nearly 2 million people have been affected as authorities work to assess damages to thousands of homes.

If you’re interested in volunteering at a potential Philippines response project, we encourage you to email Tom at info@HODR.org. If you have Philippines contacts that may help in our assessment, please send them to stef@HODR.org.

Thanks for your support! In addition to watching this space for updates, you can also follow the assessment team on the ground at Twitter at HODRopsIN.