Canadian Red Cross delegate Karen Leiva is currently on a mission in Micronesia with the International Federation of Red Cross to assess the damage caused by Typhoon Maysak.
When Typhoon Maysak made landfall in the North Pacific island nation, Micronesia, approximately 30,000 people were affected in some way – many homes were completely destroyed, others had their roofs blown off; crops of breadfruit, coconut and taro that locals rely on for food were all but destroyed; water catchments were contaminated or damaged; the islands were left littered with debris and downed trees that landed on cars, homes and blocked roads further hampering relief efforts. Five people were killed, and many more injured by debris.
In this video you can see damage to one community in Chuuk.
The worst of the damage happened in two of the four Federated States of Micronesia, Chuuk and Yap. Both are comprised of islands scattered around the lagoon, many of which are challenging to access by boat even in the best of times. In Yap, volunteers boarded a government boat headed to the affected islands in order to assess damage and deliver relief supplies; it took 12 hours of sailing in rough waters to reach the outer islands. The volunteers offloaded their supplies and stayed on the island communities until the boat returned a few days later to pick them up.
“The first thing I noticed when we arrived was that everything was brown,” said Micronesia Red Cross volunteer Philip Rangabay who was on the government boat in Yap. “The majority of the island crops were dead or dying. Most of the island’s infrastructure was completely destroyed, and the island was littered with debris. Most of the homes that were made out of local materials or aluminum tins were completely blown apart. The community was spread out under tents and gathered in the remaining houses that were still standing. The local school was being used as a community shelter.”
The Micronesia Red Cross Yap and Chuuk chapters activated immediately when Typhoon Maysak made landfall. Approximately 45 Red Cross volunteers have been supporting relief efforts doing their best to reach remote islands to assess damage and deliver urgently-needed relief supplies, including tarpaulins to help shelter homes, water containers to be used to collect fresh water, blankets, lanterns and cooking sets. As the communities rebuild, Red Cross continues to support relief and recovery efforts.
Read about one family affected by the typhoon here.