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Flooded Philippine Village Struggles to Survive

2009-10-01 12:23

 

Most of the residents of the village of San Juan, on the outskirts of Manila, are struggling after Typhoon Ketsana left it completely flooded.

Over three thousand are homeless with no government aid or relief. 

Villagers have to wade in waist high water to get around.

[Jerry Nevada, San Juan Resident]:
"If it happens to rain again, all we can do is get out of the area."

Another resident says they took whatever precautions they could, although it didn't seem to help much due to the force of the storm.

[Veronica Bendanio, San Juan Resident]:
"We're praying, we're very nervous and I told my husband to buy bamboo poles and tie them to the tin roof so it wouldn't fly off, then the storm hit."

Hundreds of women and children are living in dismal conditions at San Juan elementary school as they wait for government assistance.

[Verna Soquiano, San Juan Resident]:
"I'm worried about my kids, I'm afraid that they might catch diseases. There is no doctor, there is no medicine. We don't even have food."

To make matters worse, a new storm has been forecasted to enter Philippine waters on Thursday.

The country’s defense secretary says Philippine lawmakers are ready to pass a supplementary relief budget for 2009 that’ll be more than $200 million.