Winds, waves wipe out Philippine villages
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Winds, waves wipe out Philippine villages*
From correspondents in Manila
August 10, 2006 04:14pm
Article from: Reuters
STRONG winds and giant waves, boosted by a southwest monsoon, wiped out
hundreds of shacks on stilts and left thousands of people homeless in
the southern Philippines, local government officials said today.
An undetermined number of people were missing after giant waves swept
four coastal villages out to sea, said the governor of the Tawi-tawi
chain of islands near the Malaysian borders.
One child was reported killed but many survived because most of the
homes belonged to the Badjao tribe, strong swimmers famed for their
skill in diving for pearls, Sahali Sadikul said.
The stormy weather was not related to a super typhoon churning towards
China's southeast coast on Thursday, a forecaster said.
Nearly 3000 people were brought to a mosque and several public schools
serving as temporary shelter centres as soldiers and police officers
searched the sea for survivors.
"It's like a thief in the night," Albert Que, a local mayor, said. "Most
of the people were caught by surprise as winds and waves ate their homes
before dawn."
Mr Que appealed for food, warm clothes and other relief materials for
the displaced.
Philippine disaster officials are sending emergency supplies to nearly
40,000 people sheltering from a possible violent volcanic eruption in
the centre of the archipelago.
Extreme weather and natural disasters often hit the Philippines, which
sits on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin.