[Anglican Board of Mission] Super typhoon Hagupit (Ruby), which has now been downgraded to a tropical cyclone, hit the central Philippines late on Dec. 6 with heavy winds destroying houses, bridges and other objects in its path.

Cyclone Ruby was expected to follow a similar course to last year’s super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) which killed over 7,000 people and left more than 1 million homeless.

The official death toll from the tropical cyclone is expected to rise with the cyclone moving very slowly west-northwest across the Philippines. Many people are still sheltering in evacuation centers as their homes have been destroyed or too dangerous to return to. There is the danger of flash flooding and landslides due to heavy rain caused by the cyclone.

Floyd Lalwet, the Episcopal Church in the Philippine’s (ECP) provincial secretary and national development officer, shared his thoughts with us about the communities which were affected by the previous super typhoon, now faced with another one:

“This bad news comes at a time when the Episcopal Church’s disaster response project in Yolanda-affected communities is proceeding very well, with many stories that uplift the spirit and inspire other communities.

“Let us pray that all our communities in the expected path of the storm be spared from devastation.”

Lalwet told ABM that a relief operation would be traveling to the region Dec. 8 to assess the situation.

Please continue to pray for the ECP and those affected by the cyclone in the Philippines, especially when they are still recovering from the devastation of typhoon Yolanda.

ABM will continue to provide updates on the website as they are received.