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Typhoon Nock-ten - Dec 2016

Disaster description

A Tropical Cyclone named NOCK-TEN formed over the north-western Pacific Ocean, near the Federated States of Micronesia, on 21 December. It then started moving north-west and it passed close to Yap island on 22 Dec morning (UTC), as a Tropical Storm. (ECHO, 22 Dec 2016)

Typhoon Nock-Ten entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on 23 December. It intensified into a typhoon on 24 December and made landfall over Catanduanes province on the evening of 25 December, then crossed Albay, Camarines Sur, Southern Quezon, Laguna, Batangas and Cavite. (OCHA, 26 Dec 2016)

Initially, local disaster management officials were pressed to convince citizens to abandon Christmas celebrations and head to evacuation shelters. More than 400,000 people heeded the call and were evacuated across 18 provinces after local officials imposed forced evacuations and offered enticements, such as free Christmas dinners, at evacuation sites. (OCHA, 02 Feb 2017)

As of 27 December, Typhoon Nock-ten left the landmass moved out to the West Philippine Sea after making eight landfalls. Metro Manila, which had been forecasted to be struck with storm-force winds and moderate to heavy rainfall, was mostly spared as the typhoon weakened and the track moved slightly south. Only isolated low floods in some areas were reported in the capital. The main focus of the impact shifted closer to where the typhoon first made landfall in the provinces of Catanduanes, Albay and Camarines Sur, which were affected by strong winds, heavy rains and storm surge. (IFRC, 27 Dec 2016)

On 29 December, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launched a 1.6-million Swiss Franc emergency appeal (USD 1.56 million, Euro 1.5 million) to help the Philippine Red Cross assist more than 20,000 people with emergency relief assistance and longer term recovery support. As of 29 December, there had been 10 confirmed deaths. (IFRC, 29 Dec 2016)

As of 18 January, only 7 percent of the IFRC's original 1.6-million Swiss Franc emergency appeal had materialized through hard pledges. With the appeal "significantly underfunded", PRC and IFRC called on partners to provide much-needed support to enable the delivery of assistance to affected populations. Initial assessments by PRC indicated that immediate needs for food, non-food items, safe drinking water and emergency shelter materials were essential to provide relief to affected households during the emergency phase. Shelter, livelihoods and risk reduction are top priorities for recovery. (IFRC, 18 Jan 2017)

As of 24 January, there were 368 people still displaced as a result of Typhoon Nock-ten, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. (OCHA, 02 Feb 2017)

As of 31 January, the storm had affected 2.88 million people in Regions IV-A, IV-B, V and VIII. Roughly 393,400 buildings had been damaged, while 194,900 metric tons of rice, corn and high value crops totalling USD 90 million were recorded as agricultural production losses. (OCHA, 31 Jan 2017)

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