Philippines: Super Typhoon Rai 100 Days After - Building Back Better (25 March 2022)

Super Typhoon Rai, (local name Odette) which struck the Philippines on 16 and 17 December, was 2021’s second-deadliest disaster following the Haiti earthquake. The storm swept through 11 of the country’s 17 regions, leaving a swathe of destruction. It caused 405 deaths, affected 11.9 million people, and damaged 2.1 million houses.

100 days after, priorities are clear and plans are in place but impacts are still high and needs remain. The Government, international community and local organizations continue to tirelessly support the affected people. This product serves as a summary of the humanitarian community’s achievements and lesson learned so far.

LESSONS LEARNED

Seamless transition from response preparedness to emergency response and to early recovery to recovery ensured that affected population, especially the most vulnerable were provided with appropriate aid.

Centrality of protection or people-centered response must be informed by the evolving needs of the affected population, especially those that have low coping capacity through- out the acute phase, including early recovery and recovery phases.

Localization is key to mobilizing resources for emergency, advocating for the needs of the affected people and strengthening local organization capacities to sustain their presence in the disaster sites. This is informed by the information provided by the local organizations who have physical presence at the disaster sites.

Communities’ resilience has been enhanced to better anticipate and prepare for disasters and plan to reduce consequential losses.

Strengthening preparedness of agencies in terms of availability of prepositioned supplies and existing/standby partnership with various organizations facilitated quick deliveries of goods and deployment of partners on the ground.