CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
SITUATION REPORT: PHILIPPINES TYPHOON
December 4, 2006


SITUATION: As many as 1,000 residents of the Philippines are feared dead 
as the result of floods and landslides caused by Typhoon Durian. At 
least 1 million were affected by the typhoon, which was on course to hit 
Vietnam today.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state a national state of 
calamity in the wake of Durian, which killed 450 in the central 
Philippines and left some 630 missing. Officials feared that many of the 
victims' bodies may never be found.


CWS RESPONSE: CWS's long-time partner in the Philippines, the National 
Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) is one of principal 
members of the Action by Churches Together (ACT) network in the 
Philippines and has responded before to disasters in what is, due to 
geography and high rates of poverty, one of the most disaster-prone 
nations in the world.

The NCCP has notified ACT partners that communication, even by mobile 
phone, from the affected area is not yet possible and that there are 
continued challenges with mobility, power and communication. NCCP has 
projects with farming communities in the areas affected by the typhoon.

CWS expects to know shortly whether there will be a response from the 
NCCP or other ACT partners in the Philippines.

For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is 
responding please visit us online or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 
297-1516.

CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151

Program Director: donnajderr@churchworldservice.org
Domestic: lreedbrown@churchworldservice.org
International: flumeya@churchworldservice.org

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