The heaviest rain rains and worst flooding in more than 40 years in Manila, and nearby provinces occured on Saturday September 26th, as a result of tropical storm Ketsana. Following massive floods provoked by several hours of torrential rains in the Philippines, a TSF team deployed from its Asian base in Bangkok, Thailand and arrived in Manila today.

September 28 — Maria Luz Magallanes grieves beside the coffin of her son, Muelmar, an 18-year-old construction worker who saved more than 30 people from rampaging Philippine floods over the weekend, in Manila. Muelmar sacrificed his life in a last trip to rescue a baby girl who was being swept away on a floating box. Family members and those who were saved hailed Muelmar on Monday a hero, as his body lay in a coffin at a makeshift evacuation center near their destroyed Manila riverside village. Jay Directo-AFP/Getty Images

TSF’s role will be to install an Emergency Communications Centre for the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Manila and to provide technical assistance to facilitate aid coordination and enable relief workers to communicate right at the heart of the affected area.

Telephone and power services are still down in some areas. TSF stands to provide vital and communications support to the displaced populations. TSF international headquarters are also on standby and ready to send reinforcements to join their Asia-based colleagues. President Gloria Arroyo declared a "state of calamity” in eight regions and requested international assistance. Authorities concentrated on massive relief operations, but rescue workers are being overwhelmed by the scale of floods.



September 28 — Rescue workers carry an elderly couple through flood waters in Pasig City, near Manila, Philippines. The Philippine government said it could not cope with massive flooding that has displaced nearly half a million people, amid fears the death toll could soar. Tropical Storm Ketsana dropped the heaviest rain in more than 40 years on Manila and neighboring areas. Mike Clarke-AFP/Getty Images
Eighty percent of Manila was submerged, and the nine-hour deluge left some areas of Manila, a sprawling city of 12 million people, under six metres (20 feet) of water. More than 435,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the disaster and over 100 people were killed. According to the latest reports, over 59,241 families have been affected (294,555 people), thousands have been left homeless and the number of missing and injured persons continues to grow.

Thousands have been evacuated to make sure diseases and epidemics do not spread.TSF is on watch to monitor the situation in the region of South-East Asia, where tropical cyclone Ketsana, located now over the South China Sea is threatening several countries: Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. The mission is supported by the Vodafone Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Vizada, AT&T, Cable and Wireless, PCCW Global, the Communauté d’Agglomération de Pau, and the Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine.