The Churches’ charitable bodies are already active on the ground in the Philippines
where nearly a thousand people are confirmed dead and tens of thousands are without
homes, after floods devastated parts of the country last weekend. One of the main
challenges facing aid agencies is locating the thousands still missing and coping
with the threat of a spread of water borne disease as flood waters begin to recede. Speaking
from the Philippines on Tuesday, Joe Curry of Catholic Relief Services said that while
there was some warning it was not sufficient: “Most people were caught in their beds,
or at home as this wall of water literally came through the mountains, down the main
river in the city. Cagayan de Oro is a city of about 600 thousand people, with the
main river running through it. And it’s usually very calm, a commercial centre for
Mindanao, and it’s not used to these kinds of disasters.” “I think what is so amazing
to see is the outpouring of support from the Catholic community here. The Philippines
is 80 percent Catholic, and there’s such a strong presence in northern Mindanao.”