This satellite image from NASA taken on December 5, 2006 shows smoke from bush fires in southeastern Australia. At left is Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay.

Australia sends in troops amid worst bushfires in 70 years

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia has mobilised the army as some of the worst bushfires in 70 years threatened homes and shrouded Victoria state in thick smoke that closed the airport and grounded firefighting aircraft.

Army personnel reinforced a battalion of some 4,000 firefighters, already bolsterd by crews from other states as well as New Zealand, who fought 14 major fires which had so far ravaged at least 180,000 hectares (445,000 acres) of the parched region.

Authorities feared the scale of the devastation could balloon to 600,000 hectares in coming days.

Firefighters frantically dug containment lines and helped prepare residents in towns directly under threat.

A hostpital was evacuated and the Red Cross urged residents in vulnerable townships to leave their properties and register at relief centres.

While temperatures did not rise above an expected 40 degrees, authorities predicted there would be no reprieve in conditions before Monday, with rising winds expected to worsen the situation Sunday.

A thick pall of smoke cloaking much of the state prompted a rush of calls to the main emergency phone line, grounded firefighting aircraft, and delayed flights in and out of Melbourne airport.

Authorities said that even if they could contain the fires soon, it would be months before they could put them out.

The sheer magnitude of the bushfire emergency, not seen since the state's "Black Friday" catastrophe of 1939 which left 71 people dead, prompted the federal government to consider the emergency from a national perspective and offer extra assistance.

Typhoon Utor sweeps into Philippines

CEBU, Philippines, Dec 9 (Reuters) - A typhoon swept into the central Philippines on Saturday, a day after it forced the government to hastily shelve a gathering of Asian leaders on a resort island south of the storm's projected path.

Typhoon Utor is the second storm to batter the archipelago in as many weeks and brought gusts of up to 150 km (94 miles) per hour and heavy rain to the island of Samar, about 600 km southeast of Manila.

Utor was upgraded from a tropical storm to a category 1 typhoon, with 5 being the maximum, earlier on Saturday.

Authorities advised residents in parts of the northern region of Luzon, the central Visayas islands and Mindanao in the south to seek higher ground to avoid flash floods and big waves.

A disaster official in Albay province, which bore the brunt of last week's Typhoon Durian, said about 20,000 people had already been evacuated from communities encircling Mount Mayon, an active volcano 320 km south of the capital.

Durian, which was one notch below a category 5 "super typhoon", obliterated some villages around Mount Mayon after fierce wind and rain sent tonnes of mud and walls of water crashing down the mountain. Hundreds of people died and hundreds more are still missing.

On Friday, the Philippines postponed an annual summit of 16 Asian leaders until early January due to concerns the new typhoon could wreak havoc at the venue on the central island of Cebu.

Presidents and prime ministers from 16 countries were due to start arriving on Cebu and nearby Mactan Island on Saturday for the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting and an East Asia summit on Dec. 11-13.

Philippine officials insisted that the surprise move was unrelated to warnings from the U.S., British and Australian governments that terrorists were planning to bomb the gathering.

"Our organisers were pretty worried over the possible effects of the typhoon on the meeting venues," a Philippine foreign ministry official in Cebu said.

"Makeshift structures were put up for the gala dinner and some expressed concerns the typhoon may blow away the tents."

Trade and foreign ministers from across the region also halted talks, which were meant to be held in overcast and rainy Cebu on Saturday, and headed instead for the airport.

Only four foreign ministers -- from Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- attended Saturday's breakfast meeting.

Two other typhoons, Cimaron and Chebi, hit the country in late October and early November, causing landslides and flashfloods in some areas and massive damage to property.

Storms regularly hit the Philippines. In one of the worst disasters in recent years, more than 5,000 people died on the central island of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.

Latest report on ICRC activities in the field - Severe floods threaten hundreds of thousands of people.

The floods are affecting the south of the country worst of all, with the number of people urgently needing assistance continuing to rise in Hiran, Lower and Middle Shabelle, Lower and Middle Juba, and Gedo.

A recent dry spell has improved road conditions in some areas, making it easier to deliver relief supplies in those regions.

However, weather forecasts indicate that more floods could hit the area until well into January.

This bulletin analyses the situation and summarizes the response of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Situation The floods that followed the unusually high rainfall in October and November have further damaged the limited infrastructure of the country, destroying farmland, disrupting food supplies and isolating entire villages.

In many areas, people have fled up onto dykes, where they are completely surrounded by water and threatened by crocodiles.

They have no shelter, water or food.

People report climbing trees to escape wild animals.

The floods, which are also affecting Kenya and Ethiopia, followed a severe drought early in the year that resulted in acute food shortages and serious livestock losses.

In many areas, the soil was so dry that it could not absorb the rainwater.

Although the July harvest was fairly good, most crops have now been destroyed by the flooding.

In addition, the floods may spread water-related diseases such as malaria, cholera and diarrhoea.

According to meteorologists, the rains since October have been more than three times their normal levels.

The Shabelle and Juba Rivers on the border with Ethiopia burst their banks, flooding an area of up to 15 kilometres on either side.

The floods have submerged entire villages along the rivers and displaced tens of thousands of people in the Hiran region alone.

Access Access to the affected population is very difficult, as many roads and bridges are impassable or have been washed away.

Delivering assistance by air or boat is often the only option.

The ICRC has airlifted eight motorboats to the affected regions and hired four others locally.

In Middle and Lower Shabelle, assistance is still provided by road.

Two ICRC cargo planes are making daily flights between Nairobi and the flooded areas in Somalia.

ICRC emergency response The ICRC is one of the very few organizations that can reach some of the most vulnerable people in isolated, flooded areas of Somalia.

It is assisting the affected population in close partnership with the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) and other components of the Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The following assistance has been delivered since 15 November 2006: · 259,770 people received tarpaulins (one per family) in Hiran, Middle Shabelle, Middle and Lower Juba and Gedo · 318,000 people received blankets (two per family) in Middle and Lower Shabelle and Lower Juba · 45,000 people in Belet Weyne are receiving 100,000 litres of drinking water every day; 12 wells are being cleaned and disinfected · 23 SRCS clinics received soap and 11,000 doses of oral rehydration salts · 550 people in Lower Shabelle were rescued by boat and taken to higher ground in Sablaale and Kurtunwaarey, while SRCS mobile teams treated two people injured by crocodiles The ICRC is monitoring the situation closely and is ready to step up its operations if necessary.

This includes assisting flood victims by boat and possibly conducting evacuations.

While addressing the flood crisis, the ICRC continues to carry out the activities it has been undertaking since 1977, such as health programmes, agricultural projects and livelihood projects.

In addition, the organization has provided comprehensive relief assistance in the last two months to people displaced by the protracted conflict.

In Lower Juba (Kismayo), Galgadud (Wabho), Bakool (Wajid), Gedo (Luuq), Bay regions and Galkayo, the ICRC has provided over 128,000 people with shelter materials, kitchen sets, mats, blankets and clothes.

In Mogadishu, 49,800 people affected by heavy rains in October have received shelter materials and blankets.

The ICRC is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Somalia, as the floods are compounding what was already one of the worst humanitarian situations in the world after more than 15 years of internal armed conflict.

The ICRC calls on all parties involved in armed clashes to spare and protect civilians, and to take all precautions when conducting military operations.

Quotes "All our houses are surrounded by water.

We can’t go back to get anything, not even food.

The problem we ran away from is still with us.

We have no pots to cook in, no food, not enough plastic sheets.

We are all displaced.

We don't have anything, but we are helping each other." Asha, a Somali woman who has fled to a camp for displaced persons near Belet Weyne.

"2006 has been catastrophic for the Somali people.

After the worst drought in a decade, ravaging floods washed away the few belongings they had.

Families are pushed to the limit as they try to survive under such extreme climatic conditions." Pascal Hundt, head of the ICRC delegation in Somalia.

"The humanitarian situation in Somalia is horrendous.

When you fly over the region, all you can see is water and the tips of some roofs.

In addition to the lack of food and shelter, the terrible smell of rotting debris makes it even more difficult to cope with the floods." Yves Degiacomi, ICRC water engineer.