(ANS - Manila) - A little over a year after the passage of Typhoon Haiyan the Philippines have been hard hit by another disaster, Typhoon Hagupit. It struck especially the island of Eastern Samar and a few hours ago it was close to the capital, Manila.

by Gian Francesco Romano

With winds of 210 km/h, accompanied by torrential rains, Hagupit caused 27 deaths and forced about two million people to leave their homes for safety reasons.

The path of Hagupit was more or less the same as that of typhoon Haiyan, and it brought a repetition of the tragedy experienced by the people just twelve months ago. In an interview on Vatican Radio, Irene Broz from the emergency team of Caritas International said: "People in the affected part are the same people that suffered due to Haiyan. (...) The fear of Hagupit was also linked to the trauma caused by Haiyan that still lives on in the memory of the people. For this reason alone, the psychological and emotional damage is not to be underestimated."

The Salesians in the Philippines are by now well exerienced in responding to this type of emergency, so they got to work straight away to help the people.  They immediately activated the emergency team Don Bosco DIRECT (Disaster Intervention and Emergency Response Coordination Team), in order to facilitate the transfer to the affected areas of aid collected by the Congregation.

Last year, after the passage of Typhoon Haiyan, many initiatives to support people in need were brought to completion speedily and carefully by this small team. Fr Eugene Maglasang, SDB, is a member of Don Bosco DIRECT.  He was responsible for coordinating the post-Hayian rehabilitation projects for both Provinces of the Philippines. In the past few hours he has flown to Borangan on the island of Eastern Samar, to assess the situation on the spot, evaluate the condition of the Salesian works which have been slightly damaged, and plan the relief activities.

Meanwhile it was reported that the reconstruction projects already begun by the Salesians in Aklan, Leyte and Cebu North were not damaged.

The commitment of the whole Church on behalf of the needy is seen through the opening of schools, seminaries and buildings of various types to accommodate evacuees. And the Filipino people, the majority of whom are Catholic, look forward with hope to the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis to the country (15-19 January 2015). On Saturday 17 January the Pope will meet with some survivors of Typhoon Haiyan at Tacloban.

Published 10/12/2014