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Philippines

Philippines: Typhoons and floods 2013 Emergency appeal n° MDRPH012 operation update n°3

Attachments

Period covered: 7 to 15 October 2013

Appeal target (current): CHF 1,856,354

Appeal coverage: The appeal is 37 per cent covered in hard and soft pledges, with more pledges in the pipeline. Additional donations are needed to deliver timely assistance to affected families.

Appeal history:

  • This update focuses on the situation relating to Typhoon Nari.

  • An emergency appeal was issued on 19 September 2013 for CHF 1,856,354 to deliver assistance to 15,000 families (75,000 people) in eight months.

  • A preliminary emergency appeal was launched on 26 August 2013 for CHF 1,681,554 to deliver assistance to 15,000 families (75,000 people) in eight months.

  • CHF 319,766 was advanced from the IFRC Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to initiate distributions and to support detailed assessments.

Summary: As the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) continues to respond to the humanitarian needs wrought by a series of severe tropical weather systems that have caused severe flooding across Luzon Island since August, Typhoon Nari (local name: Santi) struck the night of Friday, 11 October 2013. Typhoon Nari made landfall in the municipality of Dingalan, Aurora province, and traversed Central Luzon before exiting landmass to the sea west of Philippines. As per latest information from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), there are 15 confirmed deaths and 32 injuries owing to the effects of Typhoon Nari.

While the reported death toll by Typhoon Nari has been relatively lower, given the scale of the storm, there are significant humanitarian needs because of the destruction wrought to homes and livelihoods, with an estimated PHP 3.1 billion (approximately CHF 67 million) worth of damages to agriculture and fisheries. Figures released by NDRRMC indicate that 59,001 houses have been damaged – 10,837 totally and 48,164 partially – with the province of Nueva Ecija (8,444 totally and 28,969 partially) accounting for the bulk of these.

Typhoon Nari has affected provinces that are still recovering from the recent severe tropical weather systems. PRC’s response started when Typhoon Utor impacted the northeastern part of Luzon Island on 12 August 2013. The combined effects of the severe weather events that have affected Philippines since Typhoon Utor have left at least 88 people dead and damaged some 82,500 houses across the island of Luzon.

With support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) – which launched an emergency appeal seeking CHF 1,856,354 for the delivery of assistance to 75,000 people – PRC has so far provided relief assistance to at least 10,000 families (some 50,000 people). In view of Typhoon Nari, the National Society has deployed teams to undertake assessments in the province of Nueva Ecija. The aim is to obtain a more thorough picture of the disaster’s impact, to determine the relief needs of the affected population and to verify initial reports on the damage to shelter. Assessment findings will inform whether the target for relief and other sectors in this emergency appeal operation, including the budget, will be increased.

Partners who have so far contributed to this appeal are American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross/Canadian government, Danish Red Cross/Danish government, Japanese Red Cross Society, Swedish Red Cross/Swedish government, Swiss Red Cross/Swiss government and World Health Organization Voluntary Emergency Relief Fund (WHO/VERF). On behalf of PRC, IFRC would like to thank these partners for their generous donations. This busy typhoon and monsoon season, Typhoon Nari is the nineteenth tropical storm to have formed within, to enter or to impact the Philippine area of responsibility in 2013; additional support from partners is of the essence to enable timely delivery of humanitarian assistance.