We’re grateful to all our supporters who have responded to our Disaster Relief campaign for the flood-ravaged Philippines. The crisis may no longer be a front-page headline, now that weeks have passed since typhoons Ketsana and Parma swept through the country, but much work remains to be done.

A new danger now threatens the area of Manila, where a lot of land is still underwater. Health officials are reporting a deadly outbreak of a bacterial disease called leptospirosis.

The initial impact of the storms – the deaths of more than 850 people and displacement of hundreds of thousands – can’t be minimized. But a new danger now threatens the area of Manila, where a lot of land is still underwater.

Health officials are reporting a deadly outbreak of a bacterial disease called leptospirosis, which is caused by exposure to animal urine. The outbreak has already killed more than 130 people, and the latest report was that nearly 2,000 sick patients remained in government hospitals. The situation is so bad that one health official is calling this outbreak of leptospirosis one of the worst in the world.

Large areas of floodwater are not expected to recede until December, and it was feared that a third typhoon, Lupit, would cause even more problems. Thankfully, Lupit changed direction late last week and was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Thank you for keeping our Filipino friends and ministry partners in your prayers. It’s not too late to send a gift to our Cross Catholic Disaster Relief Fund to help us deliver food, medicine, and other emergency items to displaced families.

Still reeling from the damage and flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana just days ago, our partners in the Philippines are bracing for another destructive storm. Super Typhoon Parma (called Pepeng locally) is expected to bring heavy rainfall and major property damage to the Philippines on Saturday, according to meteorologists.

A boy is lifted onto the roof of a building to escape the flooding in the Quezon City suburban of Manila.

At least 284 people in the Philippines were killed by the first storm, which strengthened into a typhoon and barreled into Vietnam Wednesday, killing at least 74 people. Both countries are struggling to recover with hundreds of thousands displaced by the floodwaters.

We are responding to this desperate situation by offering emergency funds to our mission partners in the field for disaster relief. Click here to see how you can help by donating to our Philippines/Vietnam disaster relief fund.

Over the last several days we have been in touch with some of our partners in the Philippines and Vietnam. Some of them have sustained heavy damage. (Click here to see some photos from one of our partners in the Philippines.) They say the people’s greatest needs right now are food and clean water. They are holding on, but they need our help — especially with the super typhoon closing in.

One of our partners in Manila emailed us today describing the need:

It is by God’s grace that we are spared and still able to minister to the people. Some of people were badly affected by the previous typhoon and there is still a lot of relief work that needs to be done. Please continue to pray for the Philippines as we are preparing for two more typhoons coming our way. Thanks.

Please continue to pray for the safety of those in the Philippines and Vietnam as Super Typhoon Parma approaches, and join us in providing emergency disaster relief to our partners there.

We reached out to several of our ministry partners in the Philippines and Vietnam over the last few days to see if they were OK after the devastating floods caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana. So far, we’ve only heard back from one of them — please continue to pray.

At least 400,000 people from Manila and the surrounding provinces have been displaced by Tropical Storm Ketsana’s flood waters.

On Saturday (Sept. 26), Tropical Storm Ketsana barreled into the Philippines, dropping the heaviest rain the country has seen in decades. Massive floods quickly engulfed the capital city of Manila and the surrounding areas, claiming the lives of at least 284 people and leaving nearly 400,000 displaced. (Click here to see photos.) Local officials say the death toll from flooding in the Philippines continues to rise as the strengthened storm, now Typhoon Ketsana, moved on to slam into central Vietnam today (Tuesday), killing at least 23 Vietnamese.

This morning we received an email from Sr. Irene, who runs the Marie Louis Trichet Learning Center, a school for handicapped children we support in Manila. Though she admits that the floods have been devastating, she offers words of hope for the school and her country’s recovery:

Sr. Irene runs the Marie Louis Trichet Learning Center, a school for handicapped children we support in Manila.

My dear brothers and sisters,
Thanks for your concern. This typhoon is really a tragedy. All schools are closed for the week. People still have water in their house waist deep. Many of our parents have nothing left. What they have salvaged they are trying to dry in the sun, but another typhoon is expected in the next few days. But you know the people here they are very resilient and say, “At least our kids are alive.”

The casualties are up to 150 dead but many are still missing, mostly children who could not fight the current when the rivers were overflowing and the dams opened. In Cainta Rizal, all six kids from the same family died in a landslide. The people from U.S. Embassy are really doing a lot and want to help our kids also with rice and especially bottled water. You can just try to imagine what the place looks like with the garbage everywhere, the rats and what not. Lucky the government is responding quite well, and Malacanan was turned into an emergency center.

Despite the devastation, we know God is in control and we will recover.

Take care,
Sr. Irene

Continue to pray for the people of the Philippines and Vietnam, and say special prayers for Sr. Irene and our other ministry partners working so diligently to help the storm-devastated people. Click here to learn more about what we are doing to help Sr. Irene and the poor her ministry serves.

More news from our ministry partner, Haitian Health Foundation, on the deadly accident that killed three — a nurse, the driver, and a 5-year-old — and left several injured yesterday (see our post below).

The Haitian Health Foundation provides health care to impoverished people living in Jeremie and the rural mountain villages of the Grand Anse Region of Southwest Haiti.

We just spoke with Dr. Jeremiah J. Lowney, Jr., founder and president of HHF, who said they were trying to pick up the pieces as the staff and community deal with this great loss.

“We mourn the deaths of these devoted employees and the youngster, and we ask for your prayers for their families,” Dr. Lowney said. “Every effort is being made by Sister Maryann Berard [HHF’s administrator in Haiti] and our staff in Jérémie to bring comfort and help to the survivors.”

He said it was a miracle that there wasn’t a greater loss of life after such a dramatic accident.

The Land Cruiser that was carrying 14 staff members back from a rural health clinic when the driver, Jean Richard, suddenly swerved to the left. The vehicle was new, so they don’t think it was a mechanical problem that caused the accident. Passengers believe Richard, who was a very safe driver and had worked for HHF several years, had a sudden physical attack because he didn’t respond to their warning yells.

A passenger sitting in the front seat tried to grab the wheel but couldn’t steer the truck back on course. The Land Cruiser fell down a 50-feet embankment and into the deepest part of the Grand Anse River just outside of town.

Alexis Michel, an HHF health agent who was in the truck, escaped through a broken window and began pulling the other passengers out. “He was truly heroic, and his actions should be commended,” Dr. Lowney said.

Please join us in prayer for HHF and its staff, the families of those who died, and the community!

We received a heartbreaking e-mail late last night from one of our mission partners in Haiti, who lost three people when a truck with 14 staff members returning from a rural village health clinic careened off the road and fell 50-feet into a river.

Please keep the Haitian Health Foundation (HHF), its staff, and the poor they serve in the rural mountains surrounding Jeremie in your prayers as they deal with this difficult loss.

Below is an e-mail from Bette Gebrian, HHF’ director of public health, explaining the accident:

A truck full of staff were returning from a rural village health clinic late yesterday afternoon — some of our nurses, nursing students, an American volunteer and her translator, a health agent and his sister, who cooked the food for the day, and her children. The truck veered off the road into the deepest part of the Grand Anse River right outside of town.

It is only now that the United Nations and Haitian Police are trying to lift the truck out of the depths. My husband, Edwin, and Dr. Bourdeau, our medical director, and hundreds of villagers are standing vigil.

Passengers in the vehicle believe that the driver, who has worked for HHF for many years, had a physical attack and was non-responsive when warned that the vehicle was approaching the edge. The truck veered off the road and flipped into the river. The driver died. The health agent, Alexis Michel, got out as the windows broke and started to pull the others out — a true hero.  His 5-year-old nephew died in the mucky, strong current and has not yet been found.  One of our long-term nurses also died. The other nurses got out with broken bones. All are still in shock.

The Cuban doctors joined the Haitian doctors at HHF to do x-rays and assess the injuries. It was a fabulous scene of collaboration.

Dr. Bourdeau had the saddest task of bringing the dead to the morgue. At one point, he messaged back to HHF for white sheets.

Jean Richard, the driver, was a devout Christian and was excitedly building a house for his wife and baby. His wife is inconsolable. Micheline, the nurse, had been a village leader that became a health agent and then was trained by HHF as a nurse.  She left behind children and a husband.

We are all in shock.

HHF is closed for now. In 22 years, we have never lost people who have dedicated their lives to the service of the poor. The whole town is in mourning and news has reached Port-au-Prince. So sad, so sad. We need everyone’s prayers right now.

Bette