Relief Workers Bring Aid to Families in the Philippines

Typhoon Hagupit, known locally as Ruby, made landfall on Dec. 6 in the central and eastern Philippines with torrential rain and cyclone-force winds, causing severe flooding and massive power outages. With memories of Typhoon Haiyan just 13 months ago , up to 1 million Filipinos were more cautious this time, evacuating their homes in advance of the storm. 

An AmeriCares emergency team has joined the team in country to assist with coordinating aid. The team is distributing hygiene supplies including water purification tablets to families in heavily damaged communities and assessing survivors’ relief and recovery needs. Shipments of medicines, bandages, baby care products and relief supplies are underway. We have awarded emergency funding to a partner organization in the Philippines to purchase food and relief supplies locally for displaced families.

“Roads are flooded, power lines are down and roofs are blown off homes,” said AmeriCares Response and Recovery Coordinator for the Philippines Paul Pagaran. “We won’t know the full extent of the damage for days, but with thousands of families in crowded evacuation centers we anticipate our help will be needed.”

Our Work in the Philippines

AmeriCares has been responding to emergencies in the Philippines since 1985, most recently working alongside the Philippines Department of Health and local partners to repair health centers damaged or destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan. In the one year since Haiyan, AmeriCares has delivered $21 million in aid to help restore health care services and strengthen the health care system to prepare for future emergencies. Reconstruction is completed or underway on 74 health care facilities, restoring access to care for close to 2 million patients. Some of the facilities have been supplied with generators that would allow them to continue operating and treating the injured during power outages caused by severe storms.