TSF Headquarters, September 28th, 2009
- On Saturday September 26th, tropical storm Ketsana battered the Philippines, bringing the heaviest rains and worst flooding in more than 40 years in Manila and nearby provinces.
Following massive floods provoked by several hours of torrential rains in the Philippines, a TSF team deployed from its Asian base in Bangkok, Thailand and arrived in Manila today.
TSF's role will be to install an Emergency Communications Centre for the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Manila and to provide technical assistance to facilitate aid coordination and enable relief workers to communicate right at the heart of the affected area.
Telephone and power services are still down in some areas. TSF stands to provide vital and communications support to the displaced populations. TSF international headquarters are also on standby and ready to send reinforcements to join their Asia-based colleagues.
President Gloria Arroyo declared a "state of calamity" in 8 regions and requested international assistance. Authorities concentrated on massive relief operations, but rescue workers are being overwhelmed by the scale of floods. Eighty percent of Manila was submerged, and the nine-hour deluge left some areas of Manila, a sprawling city of 12 million people, under six metres (20 feet) of water.
More than 435,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the disaster and over 100 people were killed. According to the latest reports, over 59,241 families have been affected (294,555 people), thousands have been left homeless and the number of missing and injured persons continues to grow. Thousands have been evacuated to make sure diseases and epidemics do not spread.
TSF is on watch to monitor the situation in the region of South-East Asia, where tropical cyclone Ketsana, located now over the South China Sea is threatening several countries: Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The mission is supported by the Vodafone Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Vizada, AT&T, Cable and Wireless, PCCW Global, the Communauté d'Agglomération de Pau, and the Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine.
About Télécoms Sans Frontières
Télécoms Sans Frontières: the leading humanitarian NGO specialised in emergency telecommunications
With its 24-hour monitoring centre and relying on its operational bases in Europe, Central America and Asia, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) crews of IT and telecoms specialists can intervene anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours. After a sudden onset disaster or conflict, they can set up in a matter of minutes a satellite-based telecoms centre offering broadband Internet, phone and fax lines. These centres enable emergency NGOs, the United Nations and local authorities to communicate right at the heart of a crisis. They also facilitate the coordination of aid efforts. In parallel, TSF runs humanitarian calling operation to offer support and assistance to affected civilians, giving them a link with the outside world from which they would be otherwise completely cut off.
Since its creation in 1998, TSF deployed to nearly 60 countries and assisted almost 500 relief organisations and millions of victims. In 2006, TSF became a partner of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). TSF is First Responder of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC).
Télécoms Sans Frontières is also a working group member of the United Nations emergency telecoms body (WGET). TSF is a partner of the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO) and a member of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).