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Philippines

Philippines: Tropical Storm Tembin Emergency appeal operation update n° 1 (MDRPH026)

Attachments

  • 16 December 2017: Tropical Storm Kai-Tak makes landfall over San Policarpio. Eastern Samar. PRC mounts a response to deliver immediate assistance to affected people.

  • 16-20 December: As PRC continues to deliver immediate assistance to people affected by Tropical Storm Kai-Tak, a new Low-Pressure Area (LPA) forms, gains strength and turns into a tropical depression (TD) and later becomes Tropical Storm Tembin.

  • 21 December: PRC enhances its preparedness measures for approaching Tropical Storm Tembin, and dispatches non-food items for 1,000 families from its Cebu regional warehouse to Mindanao. IFRC allocates 31,764 Swiss francs from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the National Society’s readiness measures.

  • 22-23 December: Tropical Storm Tembin makes landfall in Cateel, Davao Oriental, then tracks west over the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Norte.

  • 25 December: IFRC launches an Emergency Appeal for 2,836,944 Swiss francs, including a DREF start-up loan of 313,000 Swiss francs, to support the PRC in meeting the humanitarian needs of 20,000 people.

Situation Analalysis Description of the situation

According to the national meteorological agency, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Tropical Storm Tembin made landfall with maximum winds of 90 km/h and gusts of up to 125 km/h. The tropical storm then continued west across Mindanao, tracking over the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Misamis

As responders reach the most the affected areas, details of the damage that Tropical Storm Tembin wrought are emerging. According to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) report, 160 people are dead and 163 are still missing. The number of fatalities will likely increase as the public authorities verify the information being received from the affected provinces. In addition to causing the loss of human lives and internal displacement, Tembin substantially impacted shelter, livelihoods, WASH and caused damage to critical infrastructure including roads, bridges and power transmission lines. It is reported that 6 roads and 6 bridges are still not passable in Regions X and CARAGA, hampering the relief effort and the communities’ access to basic services. Water infrastructure has been significantly damaged in some parts leading to reduced access to drinking water.

According to the NDRRMC, 794,663 people or more than 168,000 households were affected by the storm. DSWD meanwhile reports that at least 447,000 people (98,000 households) were displaced, of whom 310,875 were served inside 752 evacuation centres. As of 6 January 2018, 75,880 people remain inside 53 centres. Furthermore, conflict-affected communities, IDPs and returnees to Marawi City, Lanao del Sur were also affected and remain vulnerable.

Most recent reports indicate that Tembin damaged 6,850 houses in 12 provinces, of which more than half were totally destroyed. Housing damage was mainly attributed to flash floods, landslides, overflowing rivers and wind damage. Spillways, bridges and roads were also damaged – amounting to more than 240 million Philippine pesos (CHF 4.8million). Moreover, NDRRMC reports more than PHP 1.4 billion (more than CHF 28 million) in damage to agriculture, of which PHP 894 million (CHF 18 million) worth of rice was lost. Summary