Yesterday evening the UUA received news that Typhoon Pablo had impacted the UU Church of the Philippines headquarters in Dumaguette City. News from the UU congregations throughout Negros Island is still coming in, but so far most of the damage reported by them is to agricultural projects such as rice, corn and banana trees. In Siapo and Upper Nato some houses lost their roofs, and at least one UU family's house, in Dumaguete, was wrecked. Describing the situation, UUCP President Rev. Rebecca Sienes wrote: "There is so much damage in the city of Dumaguete. The pier was greatly damaged; storm surged occurred in the pier area; some of the pine trees by the boulevard were uprooted, the roof of some of the shops by the boulevard were blown away by the wind; the boulevard was filled by ocean water up to knee high. The wind was very strong." UUCP headquarters staff have already been hard at work clearing damaged trees, and they are making plans for necessary repairs. UUA President Peter Morales offered words of support: "My caring thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been impacted by Typhoon Pablo, especially the leaders and members of our UU congregations in the Philippines. The UUA will partner with the UUCP in all recovery efforts." Further news will be posted as it arrives. Please hold our UU brothers and sisters, and everyone effected by Typhoon Pablo, in your thoughts and prayers. The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) is currently collecting donations to support recovery efforts:

• Online donations can be made by credit card/bank account via PayPal by sending to treasurer [at] icuu [dot] net
• Checks may be sent to the ICUU Finance Office, attn: Susan Greenberg, P.O. Box 300, Hastings on Hudson, NY 10706 USA
• Be sure to indicate that your donation is for UUCP Pablo Relief

Update: The following UU congregations have reported that they were gladly not impacted by the typhoon: Doldol, Malingin, Calapayan, Aquino, Caican, Samaka, and Bicutan. News is still awaited from approximately 12 congregations. Update 2: The UUA and the UU Partner Church Council have agreed to cover the costs of repair to the UUCP headquarters. Update 3: Congregational impact -

• Kalomoyan congregation - All's well
• Cansauro congregation - Some damage to member's houses and agriculture
• Nagbinlod congregation - Lost electricity, but UU families are fine and no building damage. The UU Mango farm has suffered.
• Culipapa congregation: All's well.
• Samoyao congregation: Some damage to member's houses, and agriculture damage.
• Nataban, Bagong Silan, and Ulay congregations are doing fine.

Update 4: Banaybanay congregation - The congregation was hit severely. Seven (7) UU families evacuated to UU church to seek refuge. Their fruit trees were uprooted, banana plants were down, roofs & walls of several houses were blown away and GI sheets could not be retrieved. One house is no longer habitable. The Barangay/Village gave financial assistance at 500.00 ($12.50) to each family affected. About 20 UU families were affected by Pablo It was the strongest typhoon that they had experienced. Photos from Dumaguete City and the UUCP headquarters: [gallery order="DESC" columns="4" orderby="post_date"]