Attachments
A. Situation update
Description of the disaster
After striking — and wreaking havoc in — the Federated States of Micronesia as a Category 5 typhoon during the last week of March 2015, Typhoon Maysak (also known in the Philippines as Chedeng) entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on 1 April 2015 packing maximum sustained winds of 215 km/h and gusts of up to 250 km/h. The authorities and agencies were concerned about the humanitarian impact that the typhoon could have if it maintained its strength at landfall. Fortunately, the typhoon weakened significantly as it approached landmass and eventually made landfall as a tropical depression over the province of Isabela on 5 April 2015. It was further downgraded into a low pressure area as it moved across northern Luzon.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), there were no reported deaths, injured and missing persons directly attributed to Typhoon Maysak. Damage to houses, infrastructure and livelihoods was minimal, with the relief assistance provided mainly comprising distributions to people who had preemptively been accommodated in evacuation centres.
Prior to the typhoon’s landfall, the authorities and members of the UN-led Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) met on a regular basis to undertake an analysis of risks and to coordinate preparedness efforts. The authorities activated preparedness and response clusters, alerted relevant local government units and departments to pre-position relief items in areas along the typhoon’s projected path and undertook pre-emptive evacuation of people in high-risk areas.
On their part, Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) activated their preparedness measures for a potential response. The IFRC allocated CHF 119,180 from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to enable the PRC to mobilize pre-positioned relief supplies to areas under threat in readiness for distribution in case of need. The allocation was also to facilitate the deployment of rapid assessment teams to determine needs post-landfall.
REVISION Based on how the situation evolved, and considering that fortunately Typhoon Maysak did not have a significant humanitarian impact as the typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm on 4 April, a revision of the DREF operation plan of action and budget is being made. The budget is consequently reduced from CHF 119,180 to CHF 20,284 and the operation timeframe adjusted to two months, to be completed by 31 May 2015. A DREF final report will be available 90 days after the end of operation.