Typhoon Haiyan Response A Six-Month Progress Report
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Typhoon Haiyan Response
A Six-Month Progress Report
Six months after Typhoon Haiyan, Filipinos continue on the road to recovery and appreciate the
support and encouragement they have received from CARE donors around the world.
Introduction
Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the world, plowed across the
central Philippines on November 8 and 9, 2013. The lethal combination of 175 mph winds and heavy
rains brought unprecedented devastation. An estimated 16.1 million people were affected, with 1.1
million damaged or destroyed homes and as many as 4.1 million people displaced – nearly four times as
many as those left homeless by the 2004 India Ocean tsunami. At least 6,300 people lost their lives
and another 5.9 million workers lost their livelihoods and source of income to support their families.
Six-months later, conditions have vastly improved and continue to stabilize. Strides have been made in
transitioning from an emergency response phase (e.g., food distribution) during the initial months
after the storm to an early recovery phase today (e.g., shelter and income-generation). Successes on
the road to recovery are mostly attributed to the resilience of the survivors and the concerted response
provided by various governments and international and local humanitarian organizations. However,
given the scale and scope of the devastation, millions of the most vulnerable people still require
continuous humanitarian assistance in the months and years to come, especially in the areas of shelter
and livelihoods. Moving forward, CARE will continue to help families build back safer and revive the
local economy and livelihoods.
CARE’s Response
Immediately after Typhoon Haiyan struck, CARE mobilized our resources and local partners to respond
to the great humanitarian need. Six months later, thanks to the generous support from our donors, we
have surpassed our initial target of reaching 40,000 households or 200,000 people in the three worst-
affected areas in central Philippines: Leyte (20,000 households), Samar (10,000 households) and Panay
(10,000 households). As of June 2014, CARE reached 314,124 people with food, shelter supplies and
assistance to help restore livelihoods.
What your support has meant for Typhoon Haiyan survivors:
252,115 people received food relief, plus an additional 3,700 people benefited from cash
transfers to purchase food at local markets. Overall, CARE and our local partners have delivered
more than 1,115 metric tons of food.
59,984 people received emergency shelter supplies, including tarpaulins, tools and kitchen
sets. The number of tarpaulins distributed by CARE would cover the equivalent of 4,040
basketball courts.
57,451 people received high-quality shelter repair kits, including corrugated metal sheets, tools
and other items. We also provided these people with a cash supplement of approximately $70
to cover extra costs for home repair, and technical assistance through training on building back
safer techniques.
19,549 people benefitted from cash transfers and specialised training to help them resume
their previous livelihoods or engage in new income-generating activities.
Food Assistance
Food was the biggest worry for survivors in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, especially in areas
that suffered near complete destruction. CARE, together with seven local partners in Panay, Leyte and
Samar provinces, responded to the emergency with life-saving food assistance. Despite obstructed
mobility to reach remote areas, the first batch of food assistance packages, which included rice, beans,
dried fish, canned meat and oil, was distributed six days after Typhoon Haiyan made landfall.
CARE provided three
rounds of food
distributions in Panay;
the third round also
included cash transfers
for people to purchase
food items in markets
that reopened and
support local
economies. The initial
target for Panay was
10,000 households but
CARE reached 18,100
households with
support from local
partners. In Leyte,
CARE, together with our
primary partner
ACCORD, distributed CARE and our local partners distributed food to more than 250,000 people
food in eight during the initial months after Typhoon Haiyan struck.
municipalities reaching
24,301 households or 108,565 people. In Western Samar, we distributed food in the municipality of
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Basey, reaching 11,883 households or 52,050 people. Each food distribution took care of households’
needs for two to four weeks. Priority attention was given to the most vulnerable people, such as the
elderly, pregnant women and people with disabilities.
We were pleased by the efforts of community volunteers to help us organize food distributions at many
of these aforementioned locations. For example, women assisted with the registration process at
distribution centers and men helped unload supplies from delivery trucks. Having food on hand lifted a
huge burden and allowed families to focus their time and energy on home repairs and restoring their
livelihoods. Overall, CARE provided food assistance to 54,284 households or 252,115 people. We
concluded our food distributions in March 2014.
Shelter Assistance
During the initial weeks after Typhoon Haiyan, CARE distributed emergency shelter materials
(tarpaulins, nails, hammers, axes, shovels, hoes, handsaws and wire) and kitchen sets (cooking
utensils, plastic mats, blankets, flashlights and mosquito nets) to 13,905 households or 59,984
people in Leyte. As our response transitioned from emergency relief to early recovery, we shifted to
provide high-quality shelter repair kits (construction materials and tools) and cash assistance to
vulnerable families in hard to reach communities in Leyte and Panay. The cash assistance supplement
of approximately $70 helped each family cover the cost of additional shelter materials such as lumber,
needed to rebuild their homes or to pay for carpenters’ fees. Families receiving this support also
participated in workshops where they learned “building back safer” techniques that include where to
build, constructing a solid foundation, bracing and proper roof and wall design.
This effort was aimed at facilitating the self-recovery of families, helping them rebuild either in the
same location or, if necessary, at a better location away from a flood-prone zone. To date, CARE has
provided shelter repair kits with cash assistance to 13,592 households or 57,451 people; more
than half of these people have completed repairs.
Overall, communities have
been deeply involved in
CARE’s response efforts. As
we help communities to
rebuild, our shelter
program staff have also
received support from local
residents who serve as
carpenters, community
mobilizers and progress
monitors, letting us know
which families require
additional technical
assistance. This collective
action reflects Filipinos’
innate sense of bayanihan
or providing each other
with mutual aid, as
communities give their Families received high-quality shelter repair kits with cash assistance and
time to assist the most training, allowing them to build back safer.
vulnerable, such as elderly-
or single-headed households.
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Livelihoods Assistance
CARE initiated a livelihoods
assistance program in March 2014
as an essential part of the early
recovery and reconstruction effort.
This involves the heads of the most
affected households participating
in enterprise planning workshops
and cash management seminars to
help improve their knowledge and
skills for running small-scale
income-generating activities. As a
prerequisite for receiving a $70
cash transfer to help jumpstart
their recovery, participants
developed an action plan to either
restore their previous livelihood or A group of CARE livelihood beneficiaries pooled their funds to
engage in a new income-generating open a convenience store in Basey, Samar. They’ve earned more
activity. To ensure accountability, than $500 in less than two months since opening for business.
grant recipients signed an
agreement with CARE noting that the cash transfer they receive will only be used for livelihood
recovery purposes, whether that is applied independently or through a larger group that pools its
resources to engage in a larger income-generating activity. Such activities included vegetable farming,
restoring damaged rice fields, raising poultry and establishing a village convenience store.
To date, CARE has reached 19,549 people (approximately 4,000 households) in Samar and Panay
with cash transfers and specialized skills training. During this first phase of the livelihoods
intervention we expect to reach a total of 25,000 people by the end of June 2014.
Looking Ahead
Providing shelter repair kits and livelihood support have been catalysts for communities to quickly
engage in their own reconstruction and recovery efforts. In the next six months, CARE looks to expand
on the success of these two activities.
Shelter: CARE’s work on the shelter program provided a viable alternative to transitional shelters that
are often part of an emergency response during the initial months after a disaster. For example, instead
of constructing a temporary shelter, many households that received a shelter repair kit, training and
cash grant have used begun construction of new permanent homes. To assist families that received this
support in completing their homes, CARE will provide at least 30 percent of them – approximately
4,500 households – with an additional $113 to pay for lumber, other construction materials or
carpenter fees. Helping these families complete their homes as quickly as possible using building back
safer techniques will be especially important as the rainy season approaches and Typhoon Haiyan-
affected areas will again be exposed to vulnerabilities. Finishing these homes will also help bring
greater peace of mind, allowing families to focus more time and energy on work that generates income.
Moving forward, CARE and our local partners have engaged communities to again play a highly
participative role in the selection procedure. The awarding of cash grants will be completed over the
coming weeks.
Livelihoods: Many households that received the initial $68 cash transfer to jumpstart a small business
or recover damaged fields will be eligible for a second grant to further expand their work and lead them
further down the road to recovery. CARE will also support women’s groups, cooperatives and other
community-based organizations to establish small- and medium-sized businesses that benefit Haiyan-
affected areas and create sustainable employment opportunities for survivor families. CARE will accept
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proposals from these grassroots organizations, specifically looking for initiatives that will directly
benefit the poorest and most vulnerable people in communities, as well as incorporate disaster risk
reduction activities and promote gender equity. The grants will be awarded for $1,000 or higher,
depending on the scope of the proposed enterprise. Examples might be increased or diversified
agricultural production of staple and high-value crops, and businesses that contribute to improved
processing of agricultural products.
A Personal Account
Myla Diaz, 41, is known for her persistence. Every day for two months she talked to her husband about
the need to rebuild their house. Her husband, Lino, quietly answered that they did not have the
resources for construction.
Their family used to live near a river in a small village in Leyte province. But on November 8, 2013,
Super Typhoon Haiyan completely washed away their house, forcing Myla’s family to live in a tent on an
old basketball court and sharing that space with five other families.
Myla says she was especially concerned for her seven children who were constantly battling coughs and
colds. At night, none of them could sleep. The tent was just too small to hold nine people. They
devised a strategy: some family members would take turns sleeping on the floor, while others would
wait, sitting on the ground.
“It was really hard for my children,” says Myla. “Whenever it rained hard, mud would enter our tent.
Worst of all is that my children would get really scared when it got dark. They were traumatized.” To
make matters worse, what little food they had would get soaked in the downpour.
Myla’s family received food assistance from CARE and our local partner ACCORD. A few weeks later, her
husband was able to return to work in the rice fields, earning about $4.50 a day.
“We are extremely thankful for the food assistance because it took care of my family’s needs for a
month,” she says. “That helped ease my fear that my children might go hungry.” The food assistance
also helped Myla’s family save about $33 – money she kept to invest in rebuilding their home.
Meanwhile, Myla’s family
qualified to receive a
shelter repair kit and a
cash grant. The shelter
repair kit contained items
like high-quality
corrugated sheets,
aluminum screens,
specialized nails and other
housing materials. They
used the $70 cash grant to
purchase additional
lumber.
CARE’s shelter assistance
enabled Myla’s family to
rebuild a new home at a
location far from the river Myla and Lino Diaz work together to build their new house.
where their old one was
destroyed. During that
5time, Myla pleasantly discovered how equally determined her husband was in rebuilding. Skilled in
carpentry, Lino worked on the construction after finishing his daily farm duties. She also saw how
working together to construct their new house made him happy.
Myla, in good spirits, laughs when saying that they can now go back to a regular sleeping schedule.
Their new home will not only offer protection and better comfort to their children, but will also stand
as a symbol of the couple’s partnership and determination.
Conclusion
The world has known few natural disasters as severe as Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Six
months later, the Filipino people continue to make strides toward recovery. We are proud of the
achievements CARE has made in addressing the immediate needs. As we now transition into a medium-
term recovery phase, we are beginning to see encouraging results on the shelter and livelihoods fronts
that we look to expand. On behalf of families in the hardest-hit remote areas of the Philippines, CARE
thanks our donors like you who gave generously to the Typhoon Haiyan Response Fund.
June 2014
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