Philippines Strains to Respond to Flood

[Louisiana1976]

(CBS/AP) Victims of floods in the Philippines trudged through ankle-deep sludge to crowded relief centers in search of scarce food and clean water Tuesday, as the government strained to distribute supplies, dig out the sprawling capital from under the mud and prevent looting.

The toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana and the ensuing floods — the Southeast Asian country's worst in four decades — climbed to 246 dead, with 38 still missing.

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More bad weather may be headed for the Philippines, too, forecasters said, prompting the government to consider evacuating some regions where people have only just started returning. But on Tuesday, the weather in Manila was mild, and floodwaters had mostly receded enough for people to move around and assess the damage.

CBS News' Barnaby Lo reports that the number of people seeking shelter in the Philippines jumped to its current level - officially 374,890 - from 115,000 in just 24 hours.

In Marikina, a suburban district of the capital, police used forklifts to remove mud-caked cars stalled along the road. Elsewhere, people used shovels and brooms to muck brown mud from their homes and businesses, some of which were inundated up to the second floor.

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more...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/29/world/main5348312.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

[onethatcares]

1. we as a nation did send the 100K though.

just about what some wallstreet asshole spends on an automobile. WTF happened?

[malaise]

2. It's devastating

Word is that Vietnam is pretty bad as well.