Philippines Flooding

There have been many incidents of natural disaster over the last year, and this weblog rarely touches upon them... other sites, more focused on humanitarian relief, do a far better job of promoting awareness.

But this time, the effects are felt as much in the Foreign Policy department as in the Humanitarian Aid section:

Hundreds remained on rooftops, waving and shouting for food, water and warm clothes as floodwaters began to subside in and around Manila on Sunday.

Television images showed several houses and cars being swept by swollen rivers and clusters of people on the roofs of their homes. Army and civilian helicopters were seen dropping food and relief goods.

The weather bureau said Ketsana brought the heaviest rainfall in the country in 40 years. About 410 mm of rain fell in 24 hours on Saturday, twice the amount that drenched the United States during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

This is the kind of event that people blame on their government, which is a bad thing in this case. The Arroyo administration has very limited resources with which to answer the need.

Japan should be there to really help. This is *not* enough.

The Americans should be pitching in as well, but as of today there is *nothing* on the U.S. Embassy to the Philippines web site. Here's hoping that's just an oversight...