ReliefWeb

A. SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the disaster

Typhoon Kammuri (locally named Tisoy), entered Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) during the afternoon of 30 November 2019, before making its 1st landfall at approximately at 23:00 hrs (local time) over Gubat municipality, Sorsogon province in Bicol Region. At its maximum, it packed winds of up to 213kmph (Category 4) and gusts over 230 kmph, while also bringing intense rainfall. Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals (TCWS) up to level 3 1 were put in place in many provinces across the Luzon landmass and Eastern Visayas region.

As it traversed across Luzon and surrounding islands, Kammuri made four landfalls, see table below, before reducing in strength as a “Severe Tropical Storm” and leaving PAR at 08:00 (local time) on 5 December 2019.

Typhoon Kammuri left a trail of destruction across CAR Region (Cordillera Administrative Region) CARAGA Region, Region III (Central Luzon), Region IV-A (CALABARZON), Region IV-B (MIMAROPA), Region V (Bicol), and Region VIII (Eastern Visayas).

According to the final National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) report issued on 22 January 2020:

• Pre-emptive evacuation of 457,657 people (117,726 families) was conducted in advance of landfall.

• 1,993,580 people (470,991 families) have been affected by Typhoon Kammuri, of which 46,456 people (10,522 families) remained displaced.

• 4 dead and 318 injured.

• Families displaced:

  • 46,286 people (10,508 families) were being supported in 129 evacuation centers.

  • 70 people (14 families) were outside the registered evacuation centers (ECs), or with host families.

• Houses damaged:

  • 558,844 affected, of which 495,378 have been partially damaged, and 63,466 totally damaged (destroyed).

• Damaged infrastructure:

  • 2,249 schools partially damaged.

  • 47 health facilities partially damaged, two totally damaged.

  • 247 public structures partially damaged, four totally damaged.

  • 121 roads and five bridges affected, now passable.

• Flooding:

  • Floods reported in 196 areas, and since resided.

States of calamity were declared in nine provinces: Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and Quezon in Region IV-A (CALABARZON); Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro and Romblon in Region IV-B (MIMAROPA); Northern Samar in Region VIII (Eastern Visayas).

Typhoon Kammuri was the 20th tropical cyclone to strike the Philippines in 2019. It came as the authorities and partner organizations were already responding to emergencies related to public health (measles and polio, MDRPH032) and earthquakes (Mindanao, MDRPH036). It was followed by Typhoon Phanfone (MDRPH038) in December 2019, the eruption of Taal Volcano (MDRPH039) in January 2020, and latterly the COVID-19 Pandemic (MDRCOVID19).

Since January 2020, the country has also been contending with the continuing spread of COVID-19. On 12 March 2020, the Philippine government raised a Code Red sublevel 2 as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ITAF-EID). This imposed stringent measures on the country including physical distancing, enhanced community quarantines (ECQ), and limitation of movement within the entire country. On 16 March 2020, the entirety of Luzon was put on enhanced community quarantine until 13 April 2020, which was later extended until 15 May 2020. Community quarantine continues to take effect in the country at the time of reporting. As of 31 August 2020, a total of 217,396 cases and 3,520 deaths had been reported by the Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 Case Tracker. In the immediate term, the Government of Philippines and partner organizations including PRC were compelled to prioritize the COVID-19 response. This has had implications on PRC’s implementation of other ongoing operations, including the Typhoon Kammuri response, with activities having to be rescheduled or redesigned to adapt to the current situation. A two-month extension to the response timeframe was approved to accommodate the changes that have been required, and to enable commitments to the affected population to be met. Please refer to “Section C – Detailed Operational Plan” for information on the implications of COVID-19 on the implementation of the DREF operation (by Area of Focus).