Jaderune Pen Pals

Tropical Storm Washi or Sendong
A news report on Saturday, December 17, 2011 says that torrential rain from a tropical storm swelled rivers and sent walls of water crushing into two southern Philippine cities in the middle of the night, killing at least 436 people, many caught in their beds.
Philippine Red Cross reported that the latest toll was based on a body count in funeral parlors, which listed 215 dead in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, 144 dead in nearby Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. Both of these cities are located along the central, northern coast of the island of Mindinao. The other victims are located in other provinces in that region.
Most of the dead were asleep Friday night when raging floodwaters tore through their homes from swollen rivers and cascaded from mountain slopes following 12 hours of pounding rain in the southern Mindanao region. This region is unaccustomed to the typhoons that are common elsewhere in the Philippines.
Many of the bodies in parlors were unclaimed, indicating that entire families had perished.
The number of missing was unclear Saturday night. At least 250 people are still unaccounted for in Iligan City.
Thousands of soldiers backed up by hundreds of local police, reservists, coast guard officers and civilian volunteers were mobilized for rescue efforts, and to clean up after the massive deluge that left the two coastal cities strewn with debris, trash, overturned vehicles and toppled trees.
Many roads were cut off and there was no electricity, hampering relief efforts.
Some of the dead were swept out to sea from Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, which are intersected by rivers and flanked by mountains.
The high death toll is attributed to the complacency of people in Mindanao because they are not in the usual path of these storms, and despite four days of warnings by officials that a dangerous storm was approaching.
It was reported that the water rose to about 11 feet (3.3 meters) in one hours time
The floodwaters were waist-high in some neighborhoods that do not usually experience flooding.
Scores of residents escaped the floods by climbing onto the roofs of their homes.
Over 20,000 residents of the Iligan City had been affected, and evacuees are packed into temporary shelters.
Television footage showed muddy water rushing in the streets, sweeping away all sorts of debris. Thick layers of mud coated streets where the waters had subsided. One car was shown to have been carried over a concrete fence.
Authorities recovered bodies from the mud after the water subsided. Parts of concrete walls and roofs, toppled vehicles and other debris littered the streets.
Rescuers in boats rushed offshore to save people swept out to sea. In Misamis Oriental province, 60 people were plucked from the ocean off El Salvador city, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) northwest of Cagayan de Oro.
About 120 more were rescued off Opol township, closer to the city.
The Coast Guard and other rescuers were scouring the waters off Iligan for survivors or bodies that may have been swept away.
Tropical Storm Washi dumped on Mindanao more than a month of average rains in just 12 hours.
It quickly cut across the region overnight and headed for Palawan province southwest of Manila on Saturday night.
Forecasters said that the records show that storms that follow Washi's or Sendong's track come only once in about 12 years.
In Puerto Princesa in Palawan, authorities say that emergency crews are mobilized, but local officials have not ordered an evacuation yet because the weather was still fine.

I just read this sad and tragic news on MSN news that we get on our internet. Then I came here to see what had been written about the storm here, which was basically the same information, with a few slight variations. We need to pray for the families of these people affected by this storm, for the survivors, and for the people making rescue efforts. We were house sitting, probably 8 years ago or so, and there was so much flooding that we couldn't get to the house, and it was a good thing because, if we had we would have been in that house during the middle of the night when flood water and logs broke it apart and dumped part of it in the river. The guy who owned the house was in the Philippines for a 2 week vacation at that time. It dumped everything out of his house in the river exept things in one small bedroom. Then half or more of his house went down the river. The other half sat at a steep angle on the new river bank formed by the flood. He dumped diesel and gasoline on it and burned it so that it would not be a danger for kids playing in the area. This is so sad and tragic with so many people dead and so many people missing. We pray the Lord will help these people with their trauma and their grief.

Other affected areas on Mindanao included Bukidnon province, where 47 people died, while nine others people were killed elsewhere on the island. Crispicada lives in Bukidnon where she serves as an employee of the fire department. We hope and pray that you and your family are safe, my friend.
Nine others are reported dead in other areas of Mindanao.
Twenty-five people drowned on the island of Negros.
Many people are still missing.
The storm winds may have weakened while crossing the Sulu Sea as it heads for Palawan Isand, and reports from there have not been published yet.

Yes, we hope and pray that Crisi and her family are safe from this storm. I guess this area of the country rarely gets these storms, so it was difficult for some of them to take the warnings seriously. Then with it happening during the middle of the night when people were asleep in their beds caught them off guard. I think that people involved in the rescue and cleanup will never be the same again. We pray that God will help all of them in the effort.

I did get a message from crispi, and she said that it started raining heavily there on Friday afternoon, and it did not stop until dawn on Saturday. She said the river at Pulangui, near her home did flood and that many houses along the river were washed away, and some people were killed. There was also heavy flooding of all the rice fields in the area, including at her family's farm, and all of the rice crops were destroyed.
If anyone could make a financial contribution to help our friend in need, then I know it would be greatly appreciated. Send her a PM or email.

All of us need to offer our prayers for all of those affected by this tragedy.

Yes that is right. The affected families surely need prayers. Every now and then there is a report of teh current situation about the Tragedy. Recently it was reported that from 500+ death rate it increases to 600+. So so much destruction on the properties and on the lives of the people. I hope that they can soon recover but it will take time for sure.

Yes, part of Bukidnon in Baungon, it was reported yesterday 16 died and more than 100 missing. In cagayan de oro city more than 500 died, and hundreds still missing. In Iligan City, more than 300 died and lots missing still.Please pray.

An American friend of mine who lives in Dumagette City, Negros Oriental sent me 4 of the 5 photos I am posting here. The other came from some wire service, but is also from Dumagette.