Group plans relief for Southeast Asia

Written by Citizen staff

As a series of natural disasters continue to ravage Southeast Asia, a Prince George multicultural group is hoping to rally relief efforts in the area.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and flooding have killed hundreds and left more than a million people homeless in countries ranging from India, American Samoa, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Entire villages have been wiped out, refugees have been packed into evacuation centres and local authorities report an urgent need for tents, blankets, and food.

The developing humanitarian disaster prompted Baljit Sethi, executive director of the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society, to launch an appeal to Prince George for assistance.

"We're hoping to join hands with the Filipino association and appeal to our members, staff and the public," said Sethi.She added more details on the efforts are coming soon.

Sethi's appeal comes as the Philippines received a modest piece of good news Monday - Typhoon Parma was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday as it continued to threaten the northern coast of the island chain after 16 people died in mudslides over the weekend. Parma was slated to move towards Taiwan, but government forecasters feared another storm - Typhoon Melor, which is headed towards southern Japan - was pulling the deadly weather system back into the Philippines.

Parma, which, according to the CBC, also sank a Panamanian cargo ship, leaving 10 missing, was the second typhoon in eight days to hit the Philippines - Typhoon Ketsana killed at least 288, damaged the homes of three million while also wreaking havoc in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The news in neighbouring Indonesia was not so good. On Monday, UN and local government officials agreed to call off the search for survivors after a 7.6-magnitude quake and a 6.8-magnitude tremor rocked the country last week. The UN puts the death toll at 1,100, but it is feared the total may swell as more bodies - especially in Padang, a city of 900,000 people - are found in the rubble.

While it is unclear how many people are without shelter in the country, estimates suggest at least 88,000 homes, 285 schools, 100,00 public buildings and 31 kilometres of road have been destroyed. Lost bridges, landslides, and the threat of storms over the next two days are expected to complicate relief efforts.

Officials also decided on Monday to leave three hamlets in the foothills of the Gunung Tigo mountains as mass graves."Instead of the extra cost of evacuating the corpses, it's better to allocate the money for the living," said one relief official.In India, in the southern state of Karnataka, the death toll reached 271 Monday, with more than a million forced to flee their homes as the result of torrential rains. According to CNN, more than 450,000 people there have been housed in 1,330 relief camps as authorities completed rescue operations in most of the flooded zones in the state.