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Stamford, Conn. – Nov. 8, 2013 – AmeriCares is preparing to deploy an emergency response team to the Philippines to assist survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan – possibly the worst storm in the country’s history. The relief workers will help coordinate aid deliveries and assess survivors’ needs in the wake of the storm, which made landfall overnight in the central Philippines with torrential rains and hurricane-force winds.
Even before the monstrous typhoon struck, AmeriCares had pre-positioned emergency medicines and supplies to help families displaced by the record-breaking storm. An emergency shipment is underway with enough medical aid for 20,000 survivors, including antibiotics, wound care supplies and pain relievers. AmeriCares is also providing emergency funding that will allow partner organizations in the Philippines to purchase and distribute critical relief supplies in the hardest-hit areas.
“Power outages have hindered communications in the most devastated areas and it may be days, even weeks, before we know the full extent of the damage,” said Garrett Ingoglia, AmeriCares vice president of emergency response. “Having a team on the ground assessing the needs is the quickest way to speed relief to survivors.”
Nearly 1 million people in Haiyan’s path were ordered to evacuate as the typhoon, known locally as Yolanda, barreled toward the disaster-prone country with wind gusts of up to 200 mph. Officials warned more than 12 million Filipinos were at risk, including thousands of families in Bohol province still homeless in the aftermath of last month’s deadly earthquake. As weather reports grew more ominous, AmeriCares emergency response experts began making preparations for the emergency shipment to our partner organizations in the Philippines.
Typhoon Haiyan is now headed toward Vietnam, where the weakened but still powerful storm is expected to make landfall on Sunday or Monday.
AmeriCares has been aiding survivors of natural disasters, political conflict and extreme poverty around the world for more than 30 years, saving lives and restoring health and hope. AmeriCares has delivered more than $229 million in humanitarian aid to the Philippines since 1985, including relief supplies for survivors of last month’s deadly earthquake. Other recent emergency responses include Typhoon Bopha in 2012, Typhoon Washi in 2011, back-to-back typhoons in 2009 and Typhoon Frank in 2008.
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