As we were about to wrap up the September, 3rd Qtr. 2009 issue of “Kasama”, Typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) hit the Philippines with 85kph winds on September 26th. About 16.7 inches (42.4 centimetres) – more than the month’s average total of rain – fell in just twelve hours causing the worst floods Manila has experienced since 1967. Then, on October 1, with parts of the capital still under floodwater, Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) snaked its way northwest from Samar, to pass over the Cordillera and the far north of Luzon by October 4, and eventually moved off toward the South China Sea by October 9. The third incident, Typhoon Santi (Mirinae) made landfall on October 31 in Quezon Province with 150kph winds, but thankfully did not linger and was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved back out to sea. (Data culled from the National Disaster Coordination Council situation reports at http://210.185.184.53/ndccWeb/index.php.)

Sadly, with three typhoons in five weeks affecting major cities and rural areas, the numbers of dead, injured and missing people continue to rise with many in hospital suffering from injuries, respiratory illness, leptospirosis, and other infectious diseases.

To include some reports on the consequences of these extreme weather events, this issue spans four months. We thought you would not mind the delay.