Hello All,

This is Melissa's parents - Susan & Todd - we just talked with Melissa.  She is safe!  She is currently in a mountain resort high above her town of Dinalupihan.  Unfortunately, there has been a great amount of flooding in her town.  The water is around 8 feet in the streets.  Her language instructor was excellent in keeping tabs on the weather/water.  She had them pack a bag around mid-night Monday (her time) and picked Melissa and several other trainees up around 4am.  There are 5 other trainees that have not been able to be evacuated yet due to the high water.  They and about 25 other towns people are hold up in the 2nd story of a 2 story house with water in the 1st floor.  Melissa has been able to keep in contact with these other trainees via phone and they tell her that food and water are running low.  The Peace Corp is trying to get them out and have tried to hire dump trucks and large vehicles to go in and get them but have been unsuccessful so far.  They cannot hire a boat as there aren't any in the area.  Melissa is shaken and worried about them and is also very concerned about her host family as she has not heard from them.  Please pray for the Philippine people as well as these Peace Corps folks.  We will try to keep this blog updated as we talk to Melissa (her access to internet is intermittent).