The
Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.
Philippines: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launched an emergency appeal to support the Philippine Red Cross in providing emergency assistance to thousands of people affected by successive typhoons and tropical storms that have struck the Philippines. Since mid-December around 1.7 million people have been temporarily displaced as a result of the combined impacts of Typhoon Melor followed by Tropical Depression Twenty Three.
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Typhoon Melor struck the Philippines on December 14, causing 40 deaths, and leaving more than 168,000 households damaged,
mostly in the provinces of Oriental Mindoro and Northern Samar.
As Typhoon Melor dissipated, Tropical Depression Twenty Three made landfall in Manay in eastern Mindanao.
Continuous rains are now worsening with tropical storms, which have caused flooding and landslides in some provinces. As of December 20, nearly 98,000 people remained in 364 evacuation centres.
The emergency appeal aims to help the Philippine Red Cross reach 45,000 people with humanitarian assistance across the islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
India: As flood waters recede in south India, the Indian Red Cross Society continues to reunite families separated by the disaster and offer assistance to thousands of people in need. It was the worst flooding to affect India’s southern states in decades.
Indian Red Cross staff and volunteers have been in action since heavy rain associated with Tropical Cyclone Rovan affected an estimated 3 million people and caused more than 300 deaths. Their help, which was carried out in coordination with state governments, included search and rescue, clearing trees from roads, providing medical aid and relief goods, cooking food for people who evacuated to schools or other buildings, and setting up an emergency helpline.
At the end of November, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies released funds from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to help 3,500 of the worst-affected families with relief materials and disease prevention measures. The Canadian Red Cross is one of the national societies contributing to this fund for this response.