Eight years ago today, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the planet’s history and the most destructive in Philippine history made landfall in the Philippines, devastating nine provinces: Palawan, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte, Eastern Samar, and Western Samar.
It was Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, and it took more than 6,000 Filipino lives, injured 30,000 individuals, and destroyed countless homes, bridges, schools, farms, and businesses.
Before, during, and after Haiyan, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) led the way in delivering aid to the vast multitude that was affected. Two years shy of a decade, PRC’s Haiyan operations remain unparalleled.
“We are almost a decade after Yolanda, yet the Philippine Red Cross has not stopped helping its victims to stand up on their feet,” said PRC Chairperson and CEO Sen. Dick Gordon.
“We are recognized as one of the best Red Cross societies in the world because of our Haiyan operations. PRC has demonstrated that we could gather aid from almost all the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide and distribute them accordingly to the affected provinces.
“Our Haiyan operations reinforce the Red Cross as the go-to organization and the preferred partner of choice since we were able to get the job done,” Gordon added.
Initially, the PRC delivered much-needed relief in the form of food, water, medical care, emergency shelter materials, and cash-as-aid projects.
In the following days, weeks, months, and even years, the PRC led a huge contingent of partner national societies to roll out its recovery operations, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Swiss Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross, Singapore Red Cross, German Red Cross, Hong Kong Red Cross, Australian Red Cross, Italian Red Cross, British Red Cross, Korean Red Cross, Japan Red Cross, Taiwan Red Cross, French Red Cross, American Red Cross, Qatar Red Crescent, Netherlands Red Cross, and Norwegian Red Cross.
Through the years, PRC has helped thousands of affected families stand up on their feet after the life-altering superstorm. PRC ensured that they got back their livelihood as well as built safer and more disaster-resilient homes and classrooms in their communities. PRC also ensured that the affected families have access to improved health and sanitation facilities and services.
During PRC’s Haiyan Emergency Phase, from November 8, 2013, to March 30, 2014, the country’s premier humanitarian organization provided food items to more than 1.9 million individuals or roughly 390,399 families.
Non-food items such as plastic mats, blankets, mosquito nets, water containers, tarpaulins, and kitchen sets were also given to more than 1.2 million individuals or 258,972 families.
PRC also supported 90,779 families (equivalent to 453,895 individuals) with cash assistance totaling more than P281 million from December 2013 to March 2014.
Eight years forward, PRC has built 80,207 shelters for the families affected in Leyte including Ormoc City, Western and Eastern Samar, Cebu, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, Iloilo, and Palawan. There are also 62,676 households supported through livelihood assistance through cash grants and livelihood training.
Of the houses built through the efforts of the Red Cross, Chairperson Gordon is very proud of the fact that “PRC was the only organization to be able to build houses which were accounted for, donors can see where their houses are, who lives in there. We can produce a list.”
Cash livelihood assistance was also granted to 62,676 households while livelihood training was provided to 15,985 individuals.
PRC also provided water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities to 116 schools. It constructed 1,168 community-based WASH facilities as well.
PRC also repaired 94 health facilities and equipped 64,650 individuals through health-related promotional awareness campaigns.
The Red Cross Haiyan operations also reconstructed 536 classrooms and distributed 8,375 school kits.
On top of all that, PRC also established the PRC Vocational Training Center in Leyte, the PRC Regional Logistic and Disaster Management Training Center in Passi City, and a blood facility in Bogo City.
With all these accomplishments, PRC reminds everyone that disaster recovery is a marathon—not a sprint. That is why almost a decade after Haiyan, RPC is still hard at work, working alongside its partners in helping communities build back stronger, healthier, and more resilient to future disasters.
“Kung hindi dahil sa Red Cross, wala na siguro kaming matitirhan,” said one resident, Myrna Cinco, with gratitude.
“ Solidarity remains our guide in helping communities build back better from Haiyan and other disasters. Recovery has no shortcuts, this is why we will continue to work hand in hand with our partners for a better future,” Gordon said. (PRC) – jlo
