Emergency Relief –
Philippines Typhoon
Earthquakeclone Phailin
A Proposal to Provide Critical, Life-Saving Relief for Filipino Families, Communities
Overview
Millions of families are reeling from massive loss caused by a category 5 typhoon that claimed thousands
of lives and leveled homes, towns and cities. Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in the early
hours of November 8 in Guiuan, Eastern Samar Island. With 195 mph winds, Typhoon Haiyan
(pronounced: High-YAWN) is the strongest tropical cyclone on record to make landfall.
The storm has killed an estimated 10,000 people. As we gain increased access to areas struck by
Typhoon Haiyan, we are seeing the fuller picture of its devastation, which is catastrophic. Images from
the sky and stories on the ground tell scenes of families pulled apart, villages and homes washed away,
and lives claimed in rushing waters. We are reminded of the severity of loss in the Indian Ocean tsunami
of 2004 and Haiti earthquake of 2010. Millions of people need help.
The people of the Philippines urgently need the most basic life essentials—food, water, shelter, medical
care, sanitation. Families are sleeping in the elements. People have limited access to clean drinking water
due to the loss of electricity, damage to pipes and contamination of water sources. Hygiene and
sanitation are critical to prevent waterborne diseases that often occur in crowded, polluted conditions.
Called “Yolanda” in country, Typhoon Haiyan made six landfalls across four regions. The islands of
Leyte and Samar were among the hardest-hit. Heavy damage is expected in other parts of the Visayas
once more information becomes known. An estimated 9 million people are affected (with 3 million
living in the typhoon’s direct path) and many people are assumed to be staying in open areas without
shelter. At least 435,700 people have sought refuge in 1,458 evacuation centers.
Most airports remain closed to commercial traffic throughout the four regions of the Visayas, with Cebu
City open and functioning as the logistics hub for military and the United Nations.
Timely assistance is critical. A singular event like a typhoon, especially for those already vulnerable, can
derail a family’s stability, deplete a lifetime of savings, and push them over poverty’s edge. For large
communities, the devastation to infrastructure, economy and reserves can set back a generation.
Catholic Relief Services is responding to meet the needs of 500,000 people in the most affected areas.
We are especially well positioned given our deep partnership with the Catholic Church in the
Philippines, where 81 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. Our partnership with local diocese
and Catholic organizations provides a life-saving, effective and trusted network that allows us to reach
people quickly, and distribute essential relief with speed, efficiency and quality oversight.
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Catholic Relief Services Response
 Catholic Relief Services teams reached the heavily-affected Leyte on November 10th by boat.
Activities are underway in coordination with our local Catholic partner, Caritas Philippines, to
determine the priority needs and how best to help.
 CRS will establish field offices most likely in Ormoc, Palo and Basey. We will set up a logistics
hub in Cebu City where immediate supplies for 18,000 families already are on the way.
 CRS plans to help 100,000 families (500,000 people) with shelter (emergency and permanent),
water, hygiene and sanitation, essential living supplies and livelihoods.
 A major focus of our efforts will be emergency shelter due to the heavy wind damage. Shelter
for the longer term will adhere to our commitment to build back better.
 CRS will prioritize its activities in the areas of greatest need, most likely including Leyte, East
and Southern Samar.
 CRS estimates $20 million will be needed for this vital response--both immediate emergency
efforts and long-term recovery.
 CRS continues to carry out its emergency response to the October earthquake in Bohol, where it
is assisting 2,000 families with shelter, hygiene and emergency relief.
 CRS will work with Caritas Philippines on an overall response strategy and support Caritas in the
development of its emergency response plan.
The Impact of Your Support
The initial activities described in the following pages will help Filipino communities in critical ways to
have immediate relief and also recovery in the long-term. Your support will make an impact in people’s
lives immediately. You will help us reach more people right now with vital support, and allow us the
ability to plan for long-term efforts to help families fully recover. We thank you for your consideration,
and for all that you do for people in need around the world.
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PROGRAM ACTIVITIES: YOUR GIFT OF EMERGENCY RELIEF
"Sadly, there are many, many victims and the damage is huge. Let's try to provide concrete help," - Pope Francis
Your gift will help Catholic Relief Services support 100,000 Filipino families (500,000 people) with
shelter support, livelihoods, water and sanitation, hygiene, and vital living supplies. CRS is coordinating
with commercial, private, government, and donor avenues for shipment of pre-positioned tarps, hygiene
and water kits. We will continue to identify the most vulnerable communities that need our help.
This initial effort is the start of broader efforts to help people achieve a full recovery, an effort that will
likely span at least two years or more.
PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
Shelter –Emergency and Permanent: Top Priority
With the unprecedented wind speeds of Typhoon Haiyan, large swaths of land have been devastated,
with winds blazing through homes in its path. Based on population figures where the typhoon made
direct hits, an estimated 200,000 homes could be destroyed. Most homes in storm-affected areas will be
unlivable—either completely destroyed, or partially damaged (typically roofless). In the worst affected
areas evacuation centers are likely also damaged. Living without basic means of shelter is particularly
challenging for women and girls.
Catholic Relief Services and its partners will target heavily affected areas and distribute tarpaulins to
families living in open areas. With the Philippines’ Bohol area having recently suffered a major
earthquake in October, stocks of tarpaulins in Manila and Cebu City are low or depleted in the country.
We are transporting thousands of them into the country by airfreight from Dubai.
We will assist families in constructing structures that will better protect them from the elements. In the
immediate phase, our teams will provide an emergency shelter kit that contains one durable tarp
measuring 258 square feet, and nails for fastening it to an A-frame design. The frame can be made from
salvaged materials or coconut lumber; the tarps are durable, long lasting and suitable for all climates. We
have used this design extensively in other emergencies (most recently in the Bohol earthquake in the
Philippines) and it has proven to be easy to assemble and well received by families.
In the long-term, we will help people build more permanent home solutions. We will provide families
with materials suitable for the local environment to construct shelters that can be expanded and/or
converted to permanent homes. Typically we use locally-sourced and salvaged materials to reduce cost
and transportation delays. This also allows us to quickly serve large numbers of people in a cost-effective
manner. Our shelter programs ensure community participation and leadership, and take a
comprehensive approach that integrates with people’s needs in their home—including water, protection,
and means for an income.
Emergency Living Supplies
We face critical needs for jerry cans, clean water, hygiene supplies, sleeping materials and kitchen sets
in the next week. These supplies can be procured locally, and it is expected that further grant funds
will supply higher numbers. Families lost much of what they had inside their homes—with essential
supplies buried under rubble—and need the basics just to get by. Markets are also closed. Catholic Relief
Services and its partner partners will help families access essential living supplies. Priorities include
blankets, soap, buckets, blankets, towels, toothpaste and sanitary napkins.
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Clean Drinking Water
To distribute water in typhoon-affected communities, Catholic Relief Services will install 2000-liter
water tanks to affected communities with little or no water supply. We will prioritize proximity to
vulnerable groups—including women, children, elderly, and persons with disabilities—and locations that
are public to minimize protection risks. Water tanks will be filled through water trucking. We will take
appropriate measures to ensure that the water supplied is treated for purification as needed.
Essential Supply Kit
Hygiene Supplies
Sleeping mat – family size (1 per kit)
Blanket (3 per kit)
Flashlight and batteries (1 of each per kit)
Bathing Soap (135g, 10 pieces per family)
Laundry Soap (480g, 3 pieces per family)
Toothbrush - (5 pieces per family)
Toothpaste (150ml, 2 pieces per family)
Sanitary Napkins (2 packs per family)
Towels (3 per family)
Kitchen Sets
Spoons (5 per family)
Forks (5 per family)
Plastic plates (5 per family)
Plastic drinking glass (5 per family)
Cooking pot (medium size, 1 per family)
Water Kits
Jerry-can with faucet (20 liters, 1 per family)
Pail with cover (16 liters, 1 per family)
Water, Hygiene and Sanitation
Families have limited access to clean drinking water due to the loss of electricity, damage to pipes and
contamination of water sources. Hygiene and sanitation assistance is critical to preventing waterborne
diseases that often occur in crises and contexts like these. Also, families’ toilets and bathing areas will
have been damaged or destroyed, likely leading to people are practicing open defecation. People will be
unable wash clothes or bathe due to lack of necessary soap and/or water.
Catholic Relief Services will distribute Hygiene Kits to families in the affected areas. The kits will include
a jerry can (bucket), pail with cover, and water purifying treatments. Distributions will be accompanied
with information sessions so families are aware about the practices and benefits of handwashing, proper
handling and storage of water to reduce the risk of disease.
Clearing Debris
With debris clogging streets and burying towns, the need for clean-up is urgent. Catholic Relief Services
will help communities make major headway by providing “Cash for Work” support to families to clean
their neighborhoods. This program will support a minimum of 15,000 people. The added benefit is
much needed income for families whose jobs have been derailed by the storm.
Livelihoods Support
More than one-third of the Philippines' labor force depends on agriculture for their incomes. With land
and crops devastated, we will support people re-establish their means for income and stability. CRS will
ensure that people can recovery their agricultural assets with seeds, tools, fertilizer, animals and feed.
This will take place through direct distributions of assets and materials, as well as “voucher and seed
fairs” for farmers and vendors to meet and do business in a lively market environment. These activities
will build upon CRS’ work with farmers in other parts of the country to train poor farmers on how to
make their crops more marketable, and ensure they have the tools they need—like irrigation canals or
bean-drying areas—to produce more.
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OUR SIGNATURE AREA OF EXPERTISE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE
CRS has mounted successful small or large-scale responses to nearly every significant natural or
human made disaster in the developing world over the last half-century, in spite of an upwards
long term trend in the numbers and scale of disasters since the mid-20th century. In the past we were
known primarily for large-scale food and non-food distribution programs, but CRS is now recognized
for a range of flexible, innovative interventions that provide cost-effective solutions to local needs and
priorities.
Highly skilled, dedicated staff. Catholic Relief Services staff carry out quality, rapid “assessments”—
evaluations of the greatest needs on the ground, and the best ways to help people recover—and use the
critical information to target the most vulnerable families in a transparent, timely manner.
Efficient, quick distribution through partner networks. The extensive network of Catholic Church
partners in the Philippines allows us to respond quickly and in some of the hardest to reach areas. We
work in close coordination with the Philippines’ office of Social Action, Justice and Peace, and with the
local dioceses in planning the emergency approach and distributing the key assistance.
CRS is widely looked to as a leader in shelter solutions. We provide a safe and dignified living
environment to people affected by a disaster as soon as possible after disaster hits, and then help people
to rebuild permanent homes. While a number of humanitarian agencies, including CRS, are involved in
providing emergency shelter such as tarps and tents, CRS is one of the few organizations also focusing
on shelter recovery solutions. Our experience has shown that providing permanent shelters usually takes
much more time than expected, resulting in inadequate shelters for the great majority of the affected
population for months or even years. Our transitional shelter programs play a critical role in bridging the
gap to fuller recovery.
Our sturdy shelter design, made with local materials, meets international standards and assist
people in the immediate phase of a disaster, as well as during their transition and establishment of a
fuller recovery. Our top architects have designed a locally appropriate shelter model to meet family’s
urgent needs. The design can be easily adapted with locally available materials. We recently supported
3,000 Filipino families with shelter in the earthquake affected region of Bohol, where our A-frame was
widely adopted.
OUR ROOTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Located along the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is vulnerable to typhoons, earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions. Although the country is rapidly urbanizing, many people still live in poverty,
particularly in rural areas where farmers struggle to eke out a living. In the southern Philippines, longstanding conflicts exist between different groups.
Catholic Relief Services’ program in the Philippines is our oldest continuously operating country
program. Prompted by the mass destruction and loss of life in the Philippines during World War II,
Catholic Relief Services, then called War Relief Services, first launched relief efforts in that country in
1945. Just one year later, the agency was providing supplies to more than 800,000 people.
Today, Catholic Relief Services focuses on agro-enterprise and peace building programs in Mindanao
and has teams at the ready to respond to natural disasters. Catholic Relief Services' agricultural programs
in the Philippines lift small-scale farmers from poverty by linking them to more profitable markets. Our
peace building programs lessen violence, improve livelihoods and help create tolerance in the south.
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We benefit from a close partnership with the Catholic Church in the Philippines and around the world.
The Church’s presence as one of the world’s most stable institutions and social service providers,
matched by Catholic Relief Services’ technical expertise, gives us a tremendous advantage of being
positioned to reach those most in need.
BUDGET
The below outline reflects costs of these immediate days. The estimated for the full emergency recovery
effort is $20 million. As we evaluate the exact needs and costs on the ground, and materials available, an
updated budget at the higher amounts will be available. Your gift will go a long way. Every donation
adds to the contribution of others to make this urgent relief available to Filipino families right now.
Thank you.
Activities
Personnel and Staff Costs
Travel
Airfreght from Dubai (sheeting)
Water Purification (Aquatabs)
Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Supply kits
Household “Emergency” Kits (buckets, soap,
jerry cans)
Shelter Supplies (nails, tools)
Inland Freight
Sub-Total
Support Services Recovery
Amount
$118,400
$88,600
$258,000
$25,000
$149,997
Total
$154,000
$106,000
$15,000
$914,997
$125,003
$1,040,000
THANK YOU
With immediate assistance in the Philippines, you will help families pick up the pieces and start to
recover. We are just at the beginning of this emergency effort. We will provide you with updated
information as our teams and activities expand in their reach to those in need. Thank you for your
consideration. We couldn’t do our work with you.
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