Silver Spring, Maryland—When Typhoon Durian tore through the eastern Philippines last week, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) responded immediately to the needs of the survivors, providing food and emergency aid to those affected by the devastating storm.

Last Thursday, Durian ripped through the Philippines with winds that reached up to 165 mph. The storm damaged 120,000 homes, uprooted trees, and cut off power to thousands. President Gloria Arroyo declared the area a national disaster, allowing the government to more rapidly fund relief efforts. Total damage has reached approximately $634,000,000.

Official records estimate that to date at least 570 were killed in the disaster, with 746 still missing and feared dead. Many of those killed were buried alive when Durian triggered mudslides and dislodged tons of volcanic debris from the slopes of Mayon, the country's most active volcano. Walls of mud and boulders swept down the sides of the volcano, destroying everything in its path and burying entire villages.

"The situation is, needless to say, terrible," said Göran Hansen, country director for the ADRA office in the Philippines. "The devastation is horrible. As many as 11 villages are buried under mud, close to the Mayon volcano."

ADRA responded immediately to the disaster, distributing food and other essential items for survivors over the weekend. In Albay, the worst-hit province in the Bicol region, ADRA provided 550 families with relief assistance, including clothing, tarps, and blankets. In Quezon and Batangas, both provinces in the neighboring Calabarzon region, 350 families received food packets including rice, noodles, meat loaf, cooking oil, salt, sugar, mongo beans, and sardines.

In answer to the need for medical care, ADRA is expanding its response by sponsoring a medical team, which will provide 6,000 typhoon survivors with medical assistance. An additional 780 families in the Bicol region are receiving food baskets and other essentials, such as utensils, cooking pots, and soap.

ADRA is also providing shelter kits for at least 142 homeless families to build temporary shelters. The kits contain Nipa palm leaf shingles, bamboo, hammers, nails, sawali (bamboo mats used for building walls) and coconut lumber. The materials provided in each kit will construct a Nipa house of 12 x 15 square feet.

In addition, ADRA is distributing several tons of clothing to families that lost their belongings in the typhoon.

ADRA is working with the National Disaster Coordinating Council, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and local organizations to identify beneficiaries most in need of care.

To date, ADRA's Typhoon Durian emergency response project in the Philippines is valued at $60,000, and is funded by ADRA International, ADRA Philippines, the ADRA offices in the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, and Denmark, along with the ADRA Asia Regional Office located in Bangkok, Thailand.

"Our hearts go out to the Philippines and to those affected by this devastating typhoon," said Charles Sandefur, president of ADRA International. "ADRA is committed to providing relief for those in need."

To assist in the effort to provide emergency aid for survivors of Typhoon Durian in the Philippines, please call 1.800.424.ADRA (2372) or donate online at www.adra.org.

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

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Media Contact: Nadia McGill ADRA International 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 Phone: 301.680.5145 E-mail: Media.Inquiries@adra.org

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