The devastation in the Philippines that resulted from Typhoon Ketsana on September 26 only worsened after a second storm, Typhoon Parma, ravaged the northeastern corner of the island nation Saturday.

Handicap International has deployed teams of emergency relief workers at a series of stations called Disability and Vulnerability Focal Points (DVFPs) to identify persons with disabilities and vulnerable people who are weak and isolated to provide them with specific support or to refer them to adapted structures.

All displaced populations are currently sheltering in schools, gymnasiums and public buildings with poor sanitation. Handicap International is reaching out to people in these centers to assess their needs and assist them and is working to ensure that the conditions of these temporary accommodations are improved.

The emergency relief team plans to take over management of the accommodation centers by organizing and improving living, hygiene and safety conditions and ensuring that families are provided with suitable conditions. Hygiene kits will be distributed to people who have been displaced – a vital necessity in the areas hardest hit by the typhoon, where the lack of drinking water is becoming a serious problem as is the dense concentration of people living in emergency shelters in conditions that can lead to the rapid spread of contagious disease.

In addition, Handicap International will also work to remove debris from the secondary road network so that families can leave the emergency shelters and return home. (Although the main roads are already being opened, the secondary roads are critical in that they provide access to villages where many of the people who fled the storms live.) Helping families move out of crowded shelters as soon as possible will help limit the spread of disease.

The emergency team in Manila reported that driving conditions are extremely hazardous outside the city center.

To date, 246 people are confirmed dead in the Philippines from Typhoon Ketsana while approximately 2.2 million people have been affected. Typhoon Parma has caused the deaths of at least 15 people.

“Another typhoon is on the way,” said Catherine Vasseur, Handicap International Philippines program director, on Friday.

“I saw all the fishing boats returning. When I look around the streets, I see people rushing to buy food. The people are extremely worried and traumatized, following the terrible flooding last weekend,” she added.