Typhoon Kills Up To 1,000 In Philippines
Posted December 4, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A devastating typhoon has killed hundreds of people in the Philippines.
Up to 1,000 citizens are feared dead after the brutal storm, with winds of more than 260 kph, ravaged the Albay province region last Thursday, causing major mudslides.
Bodies were being buried in mass graves, and though the death toll now sits at about 450 it’s believed more than double that number could have lost their lives.
The country has declared a state of national calamity, and Canada is among the nations donating to relief efforts.
Canada has pledged $1 million to local relief efforts, and several members of the GTA team Global Medic are heading over there to help provide clean drinking water to citizens.
“The whole idea of the stuff we do is we empower local units. So we come in with heavy technical equipment, train locals and let them run the gear after we leave,” said Global Medic team member Rahul Singh. “We should be there about 10 days but the gear will keep running for months.”
They’re leaving Canada for the Philippines on Tuesday. While they’re there they also plan to set up a field hospital for survivors.
