UN appeal over Philippine floods

UN humanitarian¹ chief John Holmes said people there needed money for food, water, sanitation² facilities, emergency shelter and health care.

Typhoon Ketsana left at least 300 people dead, and hundreds of thousands stranded³. Typhoon Parma just over a week later caused further damage.

The Philippines has also said it will soon start importing rice to make up for the shortages（短缺） caused by the storms.

The government usually imports large quantities of rice - the Philippines is the world's largest rice importer - but it is likely to begin importing it earlier than usual this year because so many crops have been damaged.

It traditionally （传统）imports from Thailand and Vietnam, although Vietnam was also hit by Typhoon Ketsana.

Rice supply

In pictures: Relief effort
Eyewitness⁴: Philippines floods
The Philippines will start its 2010 rice imports after a government panel determines the amount needed, the state's National Food Authority said - a process that could happen as early as this week.

But NFA spokesman Rex Estoperez warned consumers not to indulge in panic buying as supplies were adequate for the moment.

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo⁵ said food imports needed to be organised as soon as possible.

Total damage from the storms in the Philippines to crops, mostly rice, has reached 7.63 billion pesos ($164 million), the agriculture department said.

Aid appeal

When launching its appeal for help in the Philippines, the UN said about 500,000 people have fled their homes and are still living in emergency shelters（紧急避难所）.

The UN's Humanitarian Co-ordinator, John Holmes, said the challenge was not only to raise money for the Philippines.

"Until this recent series of disasters in the Asia Pacific region, including in Samoa, we haven't a huge major natural disasters," he said.

"So I hope the donors⁶ will have money in their back pocket for the end of the year for the Philippines and also perhaps for Indonesia, because we're also talking to the government there about what we can do to help them," said Mr Holmes.


Disaster agencies say they are overwhelmed by the scale of disaster


To jump-start the response, Mr Holmes said he had authorised an immediate⁷ allocation of $7m from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund.

The appeal has already received between $9m and $10m, he said.

The US Agency for International Development is giving $1.8m.

President Barack Obama has sent "deep condolences for the loss of life and devastation⁸ caused by recent storms in the Philippines".

Health help

The World Food Programme said it was providing helicopters and dinghies.

"Many needy⁹ people live in areas that still remain inaccessible¹⁰ because of the widespread flooding," WFP's director in the Philippines Stephen Anderson said in a statement from the UN agency's Rome headquarters.

At least 16 hospitals, as well as rural and community health centres, were damaged, the World Health Organisation¹¹ (WHO) said.

WHO spokesman Paul Garwood said the risk of disease was heightened by the damage to water and sanitation systems.

"There are fears of outbreaks of communicable diseases, as yet there have been no reported major outbreaks," he added.

Typhoon Ketsana hit Manila and surrounding(周边) areas on 26 September, causing the worst flooding in the capital in more than four decades.

Eight days later, Parma blew across the country's mountainous north, bringing more rain.

A third typhoon, Melor, blew into Philippine waters on Monday but shifted course and was heading toward southern Japan where it is expected to make landfall on Thursday.

（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

5 arroyo   

n.干涸的河床，小河

参考例句：

• She continued along the path until she came to the arroyo.她沿着小路一直走到小河边。
• They had a picnic by the arroyo.他们在干枯的河床边野餐过。

6 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

10 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

11 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。