UNICEF East Asia and Pacific: Typhoon Hagupit: relief and celebrations as the storm passesUNICEF East Asia and Pacific: Typhoon Hagupit: relief and celebrations as the storm passes



















































































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Wednesday, December 10, 2014








Typhoon Hagupit: relief and celebrations as the storm passes



Posted by



Andy Brown








Children play at an evacuation centre in a covered court in Quezon City
© UNICEF Philippines/2014/Andy Brown

Today the sun is shining in Manila and Typhoon Hagupit has finally exited the Philippines, leaving significantly less death and destruction than was feared. One factor in the low casualties – the latest estimate is 27, compared to over 7,000 for Haiyan last year – is the disaster risk reduction measures put in place by UNICEF, the government and partners, including early mass evacuations.

Yesterday it was a different story, with the outcome still uncertain. The storm passed Manila overnight on Monday but Tuesday morning reports were just starting to come in. Because of the stormy weather, we were operating with a ‘skeleton staff’ covering essential functions – including mine, communications – while most people stayed at home with their families.

In anticipation of floods, UNICEF Philippines had moved operations from our regular office in RCBC Plaza to the home of Representative Lotta Sylwander. This was also our chance to test our ‘business continuity’, i.e. our ability to continue working in the event of a major disaster. IT and operations staff had been at Lotta’s house the day before setting up a power generator, satellite dish and temporary work stations.

Lotta herself was up early in the morning, doing a 5:30am BBC interview at a food packing warehouse near the airport. “Packing was already in full swing with no sleep for the many police volunteers who had been up all night,” she said. “It was an impressive government emergency response to the typhoon. The food packs are mainly for the over 600,000 people who were evacuated before the typhoon made landfall. The storm is about to leave the Philippines and today we can really start assessing the damages.”



A police officer packing food at a warehouse near Manila airport
© UNICEF Philippines/2014/Lotta Sylwander

Island in the storm

I wanted to find out more about the situation in Masbate, an island roughly in the centre of the Philippines, which had been in the path of the storm the day before. We didn’t have any UNICEF staff stationed there, but I was able to speak to Shaun Usman from Action Contre la Faim (ACF), which is working in partnership with UNICEF on water and sanitation.

“There were no casualties in the municipalities we work in,” Shaun told me by phone. “Most of the families have now returned home. A few houses were damaged or destroyed and we’ve heard reports of a flash flood in one area, but have not yet be able to verify it. We’re now doing a rapid needs assessment to see what additional help is needed.”

Like others, Shaun praised the government’s disaster preparedness and early evacuation, which helped to minimise causalities. “Evacuation centres were prepared in advance in every barangay,” he said. “The government used school buildings and went house to house to get people to evacuate, especially in coastal areas at risk of storm surge.”

Return to Quezon City



Edweliza Wagas, 21, and family at the evacuation centre
© UNICEF Philippines/2014/Andy Brown

In the afternoon, I returned to Barangay Bagong Silangan evacuation centre to see how the families we visited the day before were getting on. During the night, the population of the centre had risen to a densely-packed 229 families and 981 people. There was some overnight flooding in houses by the river, but by mid-afternoon most families had left the centre and the rest were packing up their belongings. Compared to the tension of the night before, there was a visible sense of relief.

I spoke to several of the remaining families, including Edweliza Wagas, 21, who was with her husband and children Jharone, 2, and Jhared, 3 months. “We’ve been well taken care of and the food was good,” she told me. “The sleeping conditions were OK but it was hot and crowded. My husband’s been back home to check the house. It was flooded earlier but now the water’s gone so we can go home. I’m so happy that the storm has passed.”

I also spoke to Anna Marie Almadin, who was with her mother Lily, 46. They gave me different answers to her age – Anna said she was nine, but her mother corrected her to ten. I soon realised why. “It was my birthday yesterday,” Anna Marie expained. “It was raining hard and I felt lonely and sad that we had no birthday cake. We’re going home now and I want to celebrate by going to Jolibee for dinner tonight.” She was suddenly overcome with emotion and buried her head in her mother’s chest, crying.



Birthday girl Anna Marie, now 10, at the evacuation centre
© UNICEF Philippines/2014/Andy Brown

The health centre doctor assigned to the barangay, Joselito Paulino, was pleased with how things had gone. “We’ve been here all night,” he said. “We fed people, did check-ups and gave out medication. I saw 98 patients during the storm. Most of them had acute respiratory tract infections. Some of these were existing conditions but the stormy weather made them worse. We’ll follow up with them again in three days.”

Finally, I spoke to Elna and her two children Nicole, 6, and Cyrus, 5, who I had interviewed the day before, and were the focus of my main story. They were tired but happy to be going home. “It was OK spending the night here but it was hot and crowded and I couldn’t sleep well,” Elna said. “I spoke to my husband this morning and he said the water has gone so it’s safe for us to return.” Cyrus and Nicole were also looking forward to going home and seeing their father. “I want to read a book when we get back,” Cyrus said. “I don’t mind which one, any book will do.”



Elna and her children, ready to go home after Typhoon Hagupit
© UNICEF Philippines/2014/Andy Brown

The author
Andy Brown is Regional Communication Specialist for UNICEF East Asia and Pacific

Read more

Blog day two: Sunny in Tacloban, stormy in Manila
Blog day one: Families in Tacloban have a lucky escape














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Labels:
children,
evacuation centre,
feature,
Philippines,
Typhoon Hagupit,
UNICEF







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