The Philippines

Typhoon Mirinae hit the east coast of Quezon province in the Philippines on October 30, packing winds of 93 mph with gusts of up to 115 mph. Mirinae, also called Santi, brought heavy rain and floods to the area before weakening into a tropical storm and veering towards Vietnam. The Philippines has been hit hard this season, with Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma first causing havoc about a month ago.

In Manila and in the North of the Philippines, MSF teams continue to assist the most vulnerable people affected by Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma, which struck the country on September 26 and October 3, affecting over 8.4 million and causing 849 deaths.

As Typhoon Lupit is expected to make landfall on the Philippines on October 22 or 23, the northern part of the country is still trying hard to recuperate from recent weeks of heavy rain, which has caused floods and triggered devastating mudslides. On October 9, dozens of towns and villages in the province of Benguet were hit by mudslides that killed hundreds of people and buried settlements under a thick layer of mud. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is currently providing medical assistance and relief items to victims in the most affected areas in Pangasinan and Tarlac provinces and is assessing needs in Benguet.

Torrential and prolonged rains continue to flood new areas of the main Philippine island, Luzon. Mobile teams from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are providing medical care and relief items to the most vulnerable people in remote and inaccessible areas where many have yet to receive any help.

More than a week after several natural disasters in the East Asia and South Pacific regions, MSF mental health staff are beginning to train local counselors, as well as give direct psychological support.

MSF doctors and logisticians are currently assessing the situation on the main island of Luzon, as Typhoon Parma continues to rain on the northern Philippines. Authorities fear new landslides and floods as heavy rains and strong winds still prevail in the area. The two MSF teams conducting the assessment are also carrying out medical consultations as they move from place to place.

MSF teams reach isolated areas after an impressive initial response from local and international agencies.

Over the past two weeks, the Philippines has been hit by Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma, which have killed over 300 people and displaced over 490,000.

A second severe storm hit the northern part of the Philippines on October 3, causing extensive material damage and killing 15 people. MSF has dispatched a team to conduct an assessment of the medical needs of the affected communities.

It has begun raining again in the Philippines and another typhoon is forecast for this weekend. Tropical Storm Ketsana, which hit last Saturday, caused major flooding in and around the capital, Manila, displacing 140,000 people.

On September 26, Tropical Storm Ketsana hit the northern Philippines, causing the death of 240 people and displacing 450,000, according to official reports. The province of Rizal, southeast of Manila, is one of the areas that has been hardest hit by the floods.

Several MSF emergency teams have already arrived or are en route to countries in East Asia after a succession of natural disasters in the region. In Indonesia, the Philippines, and Samoa islands, MSF will focus its activities on meeting unmet needs, from surgical care to distribution of relief items.

On September 26, the tropical storm Ketsana hit the northern Philippines, causing the death of 240 people and displacing 450,000, according to official reports. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has dispatched a team of medical and logistical staff to Rizal, near the capital of Manila, to assess areas affected by the flooding in order to decide how MSF can best provide support and emergency medical assistance.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes since fighting resumed in August 2008 between Philippine government forces and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels on the island of Mindanao. Settled in evacuation centers and camps set up along roads, these displaced people live in unhygienic conditions with little clean water or access to medical care.