Businessman aims to help islanders in floods horror

Kevin Powell, 50, of Wakefield, witnessed the horror of flash flooding back in 2008 during a business trip to the city of Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao.

Just before Christmas the same area was devastated by flooding which has claimed more than 1,000 lives and left many thousands homeless.

Mr Powell, who runs a healthcare company from a base at Ackworth, near Pontefract, is now working with colleagues to raise £25,000 to pay for desperately needed equipment to purify water.

He says contaminated drinking water is a major public health problem following the disaster.

He wants to do all he can to help the area because of the kindness and hospitality he was shown on previous visits.

“The village that I previously stayed in was obliterated, completely engulfed in river mud and 90 per cent of the people that became my friends have all perished while they were peacefully sleeping, totally oblivious to the pending disaster.

“The survivors are now struggling because of other dangers, one such being a lack of clean drinking water because the devastation has broken many water mains, and the amount of damage is making it impossible to repair them.

“I have been in contact with the local health and disease control centre near to where my friends lived and naturally I asked about providing any kind of help.

“They said that their main concern at present was the aid getting there is not enough; the water treatment equipment is too large to get to the smaller evacuation sites and they need a consistent way of providing clean drinking water.”

Mr Powell added: “With my engineering background I know of equipment that can purify dirty water into disease-free drinking water.

“After contacting suppliers of such equipment I have found one machine which can produce enough water to supply an entire evacuation area with daily clean drinking water, reducing the risk of water borne diseases.”

If he raises enough money for the equipment, Mr Powell has promised to donate two weeks of his time to help deliver the equipment.

So far he has helped raise just over £1,000.

If the total is not reached, the money will be given to charities already working out there on disaster relief.

He has set up a website – www.medico-fitness.com/philippines – with further information.

“With help we can make a dramatic improvement to so many lives,” he added,

Mr Powell is working on the project with business partner Kate Tunstall and employee Mandy Asquith