Greeting:
My wife and I want to send a Heartfelt Thanks and a Merry Christmas to everyone back home. But we also wanted to let you know that we are safe and sound.
Tropical storm "Sendong" sent rampaging floodwaters through Iligan city and Cagayan de Oro. The night of the storm Gwen was returning from Cagayan; the water on the roads were splashing against the headlights of the car. Streets turned into rivers and rivers into torrents of death for many. It was a miracle that she made it home safe.
Many vehicles did not get to their destinations that night; they were washed down rivers or pushed into ditches. Numerous people are missing and hundreds are dead.
Where we live is on a hill and the house is built upon a solid rock foundation. So as other hills gave way to the water and mud our rent stood safe and secure. Our neighbor are on a different water line so we are providing water to their household. There are over 40 people at her home and they were hauling water from a distant source. Where we are located there is less chance of dead bodies contaminating our water supply.
Our orphans are also safe and sound. They live on higher ground and the storm was not as intense in that area.
While typing I can hear military helicopters flying back and forth. We have food and water on hand at the house and about twenty ($20) in our pocket. There was a rush on the banks because of the storm and having the Christmas holidays around the corner has diminished funds at all the banks. We called Pastor Ricky about two (2) hours away to see if he could withdrawal money for us, thank God he was able to get the finances needed, but other people in the disaster areas are getting the same idea and are heading to outlying towns to get money.
The stench of death is strong in areas that the debris and mud have trapped bodies. It will take many weeks’ maybe months to recover bodies and make homes livable again. At any time of the year it is hard on the people but being so close to Christmas it is difficult to see many lay to rest their loved ones. This storm has impacted many lives; everyone has been effected one way or another. Within our ministry, everyone is safe and accounted for; that in itself is a miracle.
Please be in prayer.
God bless,
Dale and Gwen French
FLOOD UPDATE:
Official number of reported missing persons jumped dramatically overnight, from 51 to 1,079 on Friday morning. If the majority is never found, the death toll would nearly double from the current 1,080.
As of Friday, the NDRRMC said the number of fatalities had gone up to 1,080 and 1,979 injured.
The NDRRMC also said Sendong had affected 102,899 families or 674,472 people in 766 villages in 52 towns and eight cities in 13 provinces.
Of these, 13,090 families or 48,980 people are being served in 45 evacuation centers.
Cholera type virus may occur due to problems stemming from congestion in the evacuation centers, where poor sanitation and hygiene posed a health risk.
The bodies of the victims still litter the seas off of Mindanao. Eight navy and coastguard ships are looking for corpses floating among debris up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) offshore.
In its 6 a.m. report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council also said the damage to property from Tropical Storm Sendong (Washi) breached the P1-billion mark; about twenty five million Canadian dollars.
At least 9,433 houses were destroyed while 18,616 were damaged.
At least three bridges and three road sections in Central Luzon and Regions 10 and 11 have remained impassable.
An anonymous donor has offered to do a matching fund of $2500 dollars to help with disaster relief in our area. If you are able to give to this cause; please contact Atlantic Missions quickly because they would like to send the funds to us as soon as possible, so we are able to help more people.
God bless
Dale and Gwen French
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