MANILA (December 7, 2014) — International aid agency CARE is now preparing response supplies as Typhoon Hagupit makes landfall in the central Philippines. The typhoon, which first made landfall late Saturday, local time, has brought with it intense rain and wind gusts of more than 100 miles per hour, lashing many communities that felt the brunt of last year’s Super Typhoon Haiyan.
“We’re hearing reports from staff in Samar of fallen trees and electricity poles, as well as, damage to roofs. With the heavy rains causing flooding, houses are being washed out along the coast,” said Alex Maclean, CARE country director in the Philippines. “Samar is a fishing community that is one of the poorest areas of the Philippines, so we’re concerned there could be major impacts to people’s livelihoods.”
Almost 700,000 people were evacuated before Typhoon Hagupit, known in the Philippines as Ruby, made landfall. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has said the evacuation is one of the largest peacetime evacuations ever undertaken. Maclean said many of the communities that were being hit by Typhoon Hagupit were now re-living the fear and trauma of last year’s Super Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people and left over four million homeless.
“This is mother nature at its most cruel. Just one year after suffering through one of the most ferocious storms ever recorded, families in the central Philippines are now re-living their nightmare.”
Maclean said CARE is working alongside local emergency authorities to ensure supplies and relief is in place to support families hit by Hagupit.
“CARE is working alongside Philippines’ authorities to plan damage assessments, to mobilize relief supplies and we will soon be deploying response teams to affected areas. We have been working extensively throughout Leyte and Samar since Haiyan hit, and will continue to do so in the wake of Hagupit.”
CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes and helping communities prepare for disasters. CARE’s past responses in the Philippines have included Typhoon Ketsana (2009), Typhoon Bopha (2012) and Super Typhoon Haiyan (2013). Over the past 12 months since Haiyan, CARE and its partners in the Philippines have reached more than 318,000 people with life-saving food, shelter support and financial assistance to rebuild their incomes.
For interviews with CARE emergency staff, please contact Nicole Harris, 404-735-0871, nharris@care.org