Philippines – IOM is requesting more than $7m from the international community to scale up its existing humanitarian response to Typhoon Bopha where the death rate is approaching 500 and expected to climb even higher.

The scale of destruction from the cyclone is only now becoming clear with tens of thousands homeless and hundreds still missing.

Since the storm struck IOM has mobilized its staff in Mindanao prioritizing the distribution of non-food relief items and the shelter repair materials. Upon the request of the Philippine Government, IOM is preparing bunkhouses and alternative transitional shelters.  There is severe overcrowding in the government’s evacuation centers, where more than 295,000 people are staying.

IOM is appealing for US$ 7 million as it scales up its response to the emergency in order to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs. The response will range from building emergency shelters to coordinating the delivery of aid to the large scale camps where the homeless are finding shelter from the elements.

“IOM is responding already with the resources we have to hand, but to meet the needs of the population and support the government we need to rapidly scale up our efforts” said José Pimentel, IOM’s Chief of Mission for the Philippines and head of its global administrative center. ”The $7 million we are requesting is a conservative estimate of what we need to address the most urgent needs of vulnerable people who have been living outdoors without shelter for almost a week now.”

A major component of IOM’s work in in providing health assistance to people who have lost family members and find their communities devastated.

Tropical Cyclone “Bopha” struck southern Philippines on 4 December, leaving a trail of death and destruction and damaging at least 3,300 homes. The typhoon affected more than 5 million people in 7 regions.

IOM, together with government counterparts and the humanitarian community is prioritizing the provinces of Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Surigao del Sur.  
 
A large part of IOM’s response will be ensuring that communications with the displaced community is well coordinated with other actors, notably the Government. Carefully coordinated print, radio, SMS and online communications will be used to ensure that the vulnerable population is clearly and accurately informed of the aid that is available. IOM will also help track the response of the community using crowdsourcing to ensure that gaps are quickly identified.
 
Almost a year ago, on December 16, another tropical storm named Washi struck Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, also in Mindanao, killing more than 1,000 people and displacing over 100,000 families. In an urgent sign that the Philippines is being badly affected by climate change it is the second time in twelve months  a “storm proof”  area of the Philippines has been struck hard by a cyclone. It’s been seventeen years since the last typhoon struck the area.
 
For the latest updates and appeal visit http://www.iom.int/cms/philippines.
For more information, contact Conrado Navidad, IOM Philippines, email cnavidad@iom.int.