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The situation
On 8 November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan (locally Yolanda) struck central Philippines with sustained winds of up to 280 kph and gustiness of up to 315 kph. Haiyan first made landfall in Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 0440 H.
One of the strongest typhoons on record, Haiyan barrelled through the Eastern, Central and Western Visayas regions. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) confirmed 6,300 fatalities across the country, 5,877 of those reported in the Eastern Visayas region. Locally, the actual death toll was reported as higher.
The storm crossed the Visayas region for almost a day, with its strong winds, intense rain fall and tsunami-like storm surges destroying houses, crops, infrastructure and life lines. There were widespread power interruptions; landslides and flash floods were also reported. Major roads were blocked by trees, while domestic and international commercial flights were cancelled.
In some of the worst affected areas, 250mm of rainfall was recorded in less than 12 hours. Storm surges were recorded in many places especially the eastern coastline of Leyte and Samar, such as in Tacloban, the Provincial capital on the east coast of Leyte, where over 5-metre high storm surges were reported which caused widespread destruction and loss of lives.
A total of 3,424,593 families (16,078,181 people) were affected across 12,139 barangays, 44 provinces and 591 municipalities. 890,895 families (4,095,280 persons) were displaced, requiring humanitarian assistance both inside and outside evacuation centres. The number of damaged houses reported reached 1,140,332 (550,928 totally / 589,404 partially). Damage to infrastructure and agriculture was estimated to be CHF 1.99 billion.
On 11 November, the Philippine government declared a state of national calamity, allowing the government to access funds for and to hasten procurement of essential goods and services to provide relief to the millions of affected. The public authorities requested for international assistance and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator declared it a humanitarian system-wide Level 3 emergency, effectively activating a system-wide mobilization of capacity to enable accelerated and scaled-up delivery of assistance and protection to people in need.
PRC immediately launched an emergency operation, which was supported by IFRC through a DREF allocation of CHF 475,495. Food, water and emergency shelter materials were dispatched and more than 8,000 staff and volunteers were mobilized. As the extent of the damage became more apparent, IFRC launched an emergency appeal to support the PRC overall plan of action whose final revision was seeking CHF 94.63 million.
Typhoon Haiyan is one of the strongest typhoons in history to make landfall and the largest to hit the Philippines in over two decades. This required a massive response from PRC and the Movement to support the most vulnerable families affected. The IFRC appeal enabled PRC to provide relief and early recovery assistance to almost 160,000 households across several provinces, while longer term programmes are ensuring that hundreds of communities will be more resilient and better equipped to prepare for and respond to calamities.
Financial status Of the 94.63 million sought, CHF 86.33 million was received, translating to 91 per cent coverage. Total expenditure recorded thus far is CHF 76 million, of which CHF 42.4 million (56 per cent) went for direct assistance, with the rest covering National Society development and operational support costs, including distribution and monitoring.
It is important to note that there are some operational support costs which are yet to be reflected in the system. The balance is expected to be less than CHF 7 million after June closing. The balance of funds – all unearmarked – will be transferred to the IFRC Operational Plan 2017-2018 to support longer-term programmes and National Society development initiatives initiated under the Typhoon Haiyan operation. Donors who have any queries or clarification about reallocation of the balance to the IFRC Operational Plan 2017-2018 are requested to contact IFRC Asia Pacific Regional Office within 30 days of issuance of this report.
Meantime, building on its strategic plan as well as the achievements, best practices and lessons of the Typhoon Haiyan operation, PRC has developed a new strategic framework – Strategic Plan 2017-2020 – which will guide its work over the next five years. IFRC is supporting and will continue to support PRC in implementing the new Strategy under Operational Plan 2017-2018 for Philippines. The IFRC Operational Plan 2017 is available upon request.
Continuation of longer-term activities under Operational Plan 2017-2018 will enable the linking of relief, recovery and development as part of the exit and transition strategy of the Typhoon Haiyan operation. Already, as part of the longer-term programme, IFRC is providing high-level technical support to PRC. An Organizational Development Delegate is currently working with the National Society to support policy formation and implementation.
On behalf of PRC, IFRC would like to thank partners and donors – who contributed towards the Typhoon Haiyan Emergency Appeal – for their invaluable support towards the operation.