Typhoon Frank Devastates the Philippines
July 18, 2008—Thousands of families in the Philippines were left homeless after Typhoon Frank ripped through the Pacific island nation last month, causing widespread flood damage.
According to government statistics, approximately 3.6 million people across 49 provinces have been affected in some way by the high-powered storm that made landfall the weekend of June 20. So far, reports indicate that 540 people have lost their lives and nearly 200 more have been injured.
The hardest hit areas were Visayas, of central Philippines, and Mindanao, in the southern Philippines. Massive floods and winds from the Category 3 storm destroyed over 300,000 homes, along with cropland and livestock. Displaced families have taken refuge in schools, health centers and churches, where they are living under cramped and harsh conditions.
A flooded neighborhood in Cotabato. Photo by Ryan Russell/CRS
Catholic Relief Services and our partner, the National Secretariat for Social Action-Justice and Peace, are responding with emergency relief for 50,000 people in six provinces across Western Visayas and Mindanao.
In some communities, families are unable to return home as their houses were completely destroyed and streets remain flooded. In Cotabato City, located in Mindanao, over 500 houses remain underwater. At least 4,000 households in the municipality of Lambayong are still being flooded by a nearby river.
Those who have returned home face a very grim reality.
"Most have lost the crops they had just planted," says Ryan Russell, CRS' regional technical advisor for emergencies in the Asia Pacific region. "Many were already having difficulties feeding their families and were dependent on government-subsidized food, all brought on the last few months by a doubling in food prices, such as rice."
These farmers will not see a harvest in October, which will increase the region's food insecurity.
CRS has been working in the Philippines continuously since 1945 when we launched relief and reconstruction efforts in the wake of the Second World War. While CRS continues to provide relief to victims of natural and man-made emergencies, we have also evolved into a premier development agency, supporting ongoing programs in HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.
