Human Wrongs Watch
More than 30 million people risk feeling the brunt of Typhoon Hagupit as it barrels down on the Philippines, United Nations emergency and humanitarian officials on 5 December 2014 warned as they outlined the Organization-wide preparations being made before the massive storm makes landfall this weekend.
Typhoon Hagupit, known locally as Ruby, is expected to make landfall in the Philippines 5-6 December 2014, while the country is still recovering from Super Typhoon Haiyan, which hit on 8 November 2013. Photo: OCHA/Jennifer Bose
At a press briefing in Geneva, Denis McClean, a spokesperson for the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), said the Category 5 typhoon has triggered one of the largest peace time evacuations in Philippines history, noting that the extent of the evacuation “appeared to rival” the one million people evacuated last year when Cyclone Phailin threatened India’s coastline.
As a result, he said, schools and local Government offices had been closed and evacuation centres were filling up as people were rapidly moving out of danger zones. While around 10 million residents of the Philippines are at risk of flooding, storm surges and strong winds, “more than 30 million people could feel the impact,” he added.
Typhoon Hagupit, known locally as “Ruby,” has stirred unease among many Filipinos following the devastation wrought by the last super storm to hit the archipelago – Typhoon Haiyan.
Haiyan is the biggest typhoon recorded in almost a century, and according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as it slammed into the Philippines in the early hours of 8 November 2013, it killed thousands and affected nearly 9.8 million people, displaced some 4 million people and destroyed 500,000 homes.
The storm also devastated the country’s infrastructure, hospitals, schools and public services, causing $12 billion in estimated damages while also laying waste to the agricultural sector.
One-point-one million tonnes of crops suffered severe damage within hours of the super storm’s landfall. Coconut farmers, for instance, lost some 44 million trees to the storm dealing a debilitating blow to their livelihoods; coconut trees take six to eight years to become productive again. At the same time, nearly two-third of fishing communities lost their productive assets.
Two children walk past downed trees and other destruction caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban City. Photo: UNICEF
McClean explained that lessons learned from Typhoon Haiyan were being applied as local Governments were taking the lead in disseminating early warnings and ensuring that the public was fully aware of the threats posed to their safety.
At the same time, Corinne Momal-Vanian, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), said the agency was closely monitoring the typhoon’s trajectory and had food stocks available and staff on standby.
Momal-Vanian noted that the WFP had already 260 metric tonnes of high-energy biscuits, almost 4,000 metric tonnes of rice and over 130 metric tonnes of ready-to-use supplementary food – enough to provide emergency assistance to 1.8 million people during an initial two-week period.
According to the latest forecasts prepared by the UN’s World Meteorological Agency (WMO), Typhoon Hagupit appears to be heading to the country’s north, which may spare the densely populated regions of the central Philippines. Nonetheless, Hagupit remains “a very strong storm” with 50 metre per second wind speeds and 70 metre per second wind gusts.
Christiane Berthiaume, speaking on behalf of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said a worst-case disaster scenario would see up to 32 million people affected by the storm and that the IOM had been assisting authorities with evacuations – particularly in areas where those displaced by Haiyan continue to live in tents. (*Source: UN).
On Leyte Island in the Philippines, wooden transitional shelters are under construction to house the displaced caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan whick struck on 8 November 2013. Photo: UNHCR/P. Behan
Typhoon Haiyan, One Year After
on 7 November 2014, one year after super Typhoon Haiyan swept across the central Philippines, destroying large swaths of the archipelago, the United Nations has declared the country to be well on the road to recovery as efforts to rebuild the livelihoods of local communities particularly farmers and fishers begin to yield results.**
Farmers are the backbone of this recovery and the key to build community resilience to future disasters, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director General Jos Graziano da Silva declared in a press release on the eve of the one-year anniversary.
Their work now will ensure that when the next typhoon hits, the impacts are smaller and they are able to recover quicker, he added.
Haiyan is the biggest typhoon recorded in almost a century, and according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as it slammed into the Philippines in the early hours of 8 November 2013, it killed thousands and affected nearly 9.8 million people, displaced some 4 million people and destroyed 500,000 homes.
The storm also devastated the countrys infrastructure, hospitals, schools and public services, causing $12 billion in estimated damages while also laying waste to the agricultural sector.
One-point-one million tonnes of crops suffered severe damage within hours of the super storms landfall. Coconut farmers, for instance, lost some 44 million trees to the storm dealing a debilitating blow to their livelihoods; coconut trees take six to eight years to become productive again. At the same time, nearly two-third of fishing communities lost their productive assets.
The airport in Tacloban City, the Philippines, was badly damaged in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan on 8 November 2013. Photo: courtesy of the Philippines Air Force | Source: UN News Centre
As a result, over the past year FAO has been working closely with the Government in severely affected areas through some 22 projects in MIMAROPA, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas regions as part of a wider effort to build peoples ability to be self-reliant from day one, noted Jos Luis Fernandez, FAO Representative to the Philippines.
Farmers have been key responders in this emergency, he continued. We helped them source seed to plant in time. They, in turn, filled local markets with rice four months later. Without their perseverance, food aid and other forms of humanitarian assistance would have been required much longer and for many more people.
Leveraging nearly $40 million in support from the international community, FAO and local authorities have funnelled assistance to 150,000 farming and fishing families some 750,000 people in four critical areas of intervention: rice and corn farming, fisheries and coastal communities, coconut-based farming systems and coastal/mangrove forest rehabilitation.
With one-third of the country relying on the agriculture sector for their livelihood, it is crucial to get people back on their feet as quickly as possible and assist them in rebuilding their lives, Mr. Fernandez added.
In a briefing today from Geneva, the UNs humanitarian agencies also underscored the gains made since Haiyan struck the Philippines, killing at 6,300 people. They also observed, however, that much work remained to be done in assisting those still afflicted by displacement and lost employment opportunities.
Residents of Tacloban, Philippines, queue for aid following Super Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda). Photo: WFP/Saripa Alangadi
Speaking by phone from the Philippines, Dr. Julie Hall of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), explained that, from a health perspective, the past year had been a very challenging one as the Asian country had lost 600 health facilities.
She said the international communitys response had been overwhelming as aid poured in to the affected areas and around half of the damaged facilities had been repaired or were in the process of reparation. She noted, however, that levels of functionality between health centres varied, medicines were running out, and a recent uptick in mental health issues could be observed.
OCHA spokesperson, Jens Laerke, meanwhile remarked that the UNs humanitarian wing had served roughly 3.7 million people with food assistance, almost one million with rehabilitated water systems and established 4,900 temporary learning spaces for children. He added that OCHA had been humbled by the extraordinary resilience of the Filipino people who had pushed through the disaster and towards recovery individually and collectively.
For its part, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was now focusing on the remaining 20,000 people still living in 56 displacement sites across typhoon-affected areas after the majority of the 4.1 million displaced persons had returned home to rebuild or been relocated.
Super Typhoon Haiyan ripped through the Philippines causing widespread damage. Photo: OCHA/Akiko Yoshida
As UNHCR worked to provide those still displaced with shelter, water and sanitation, spokesperson, Adrian Edwards, noted that the agency was also lobbying the Filipino Government to adopt legislation protecting the rights of internally displaced people whether it be from natural disasters or the decades-long conflict still troubling the countrys south.
The passage of such legislation would be very timely as the country welcomes crucial steps in attaining sustainable peace in the southern Philippines, Mr. Edwards concluded.
A statement by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines on behalf of the Humanitarian Country Team and the UN Country to mark the anniversary remembered all those who lost their lives and [acknowledged] the extraordinary resilience of the Filipino people.
Luiza Carvalho, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines said We are privileged to have been able to contribute to the humanitarian response led by the Government of the Philippines and will continue to support recovery efforts at all levels and in particular through the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery and relevant line ministries. (**Source: UN).
Baher Kamal
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
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