Now the UN is to revise its appeal made on 7th October.  Initially it called for $74m, but now it says that this “was clearly not enough” and the UN is stressing that this number would be revised upwards when more detailed reports come in from the field.

Amongst the problems the UN – and the Philippines – is facing are the double impact of the global financial crisis and the number of emergencies to hit South East Asia over the past few weeks – tsunamis in Samoa, the earthquake in Indonesia and flooding in several countries in the region.

John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said he was optimistic the international donor community would respond positively to a revised appeal, and added, “Climate change is already causing more intense disasters.”

Cyclone Ketsana dumped record rainfall on Manila and surrounding areas on 26th September, causing unprecedented flooding. It destroyed hospitals and homes, and washed away entire communities along river banks.

A week later on 3rd October, super-typhoon Parma hit the northern Philippines and Luzon island’s western coast, drowning large tracts of farm land and causing landslides that destroyed bridges and motorways.

Authorities were also forced to release water from two near-bursting dams, adding to the flooding that at one point covered an entire province.

Damage to infrastructure and agriculture, which contributes significantly to the economy, is initially placed at 17.6 billion pesos ($382.60 million), a figure that is likely to rise once a final assessment is made, officials said.

But at this time of year the flooding problem is in West Africa.  Just a couple of days ago the BBC was reporting that 350,000 people had been affected in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, Niger and Senegal.

Now CNN is quoting the UN as saying that the number affected has risen to 600,000.  Its report says, “The World Food Programme (WFP) has set a goal of feeding 177,500 people, mainly in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, where 150,000 people have been affected and key infrastructure — including a central hospital, schools, bridges and roads — has been damaged.  The flooding in Burkina Faso is the worst in 90 years.”

And this is a recurring problem.  In 2007 300 people died and 800,000 were affected by the storms and flooding that result from the West African rainy season that runs from June through to September.

But the sad thing is that even flooding and displacement on this scale does not make the television news or hit the front pages even though the UN is reporting that, “Roads and buildings have been ruined from Mauritania to Niger”, which covers a huge area .  And if a disaster is not on TV in the West, it’s almost as if it hasn’t happened as far as donations and public offers of help are concerned.