Where do we go from here.....

A Filipino boy is carried to safety through floodwaters brought by Tropical Storm Ketsana in the Quezon City suburban of Manila on September 26, 2009.



About a week ago, Typhoon Ketsana (known in the Phillippines as "Ondoy") made landfall, and according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Ketsana dropped 455 mm (17.9 in) of rain on Metro Manila in a span of 24 hours on Saturday - the most in 42 years. A month's worth of rainfall in a single day washed away homes and flooded large areas, stranding thousands on rooftops in the city and elsewhere. Ketsana later crossed over to Vietnam and Cambodia, where it is still active. Over 360 people are known to have been killed, and damage estimates are reaching $100 million. Unfortunately, another tropical storm may be headed toward the southern Philippines on Wednesday but is still 1,000 km (600 mi) off the coast. Here is a selection of photographs from the affected areas over the past week.

Authorities expected the death toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana, which scythed across the northern Philippines on Saturday, to rise as rescuers penetrate villages blocked off by floating cars and other debris. The storm dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours, fueling the worst flooding to hit the country in more than 40 years. At least 240 people died, and 37 are missing.

In Manila, millions of residents now live in a world of mud. Torrential rain over the weekend triggered the worst flooding the Philippines' capital has seen in over four decades, submerging more than 80% of the city, killing at least 246 people and displacing hundreds of thousands more. By Tuesday, the water had receded in many places, but it left behind ruined homes and swept-away neighborhoods, and according to health officials, it disabled the majority of Manila's medical facilities. Debris, sewage and abandoned vehicles that were tossed around by gushing currents now litter the notoriously polluted capital; aid workers warn of water-borne diseases. The government has placed the area around Manila under a "state of public calamity."






The United States has donated $100,000 and deployed a military helicopter and five rubber boats manned by about 20 American soldiers from the country's south, where they have been providing counterterrorism training. The United Nations Children's Fund and the World Food Program have also provided food and other aid.


Most area around Metro Manila were submerged when typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) hit the Philipines. They're starting to clean up the mess the brought by Ondoy, at this moment most of them still cleaning their houses.






A man balances on top of a wall, not seen, as he crosses a swollen creek following floodings brought about by tropical storm Ketsana Saturday Sept. 26, 2009 in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Philippines.