More than 305,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the consecutive, devastating typhoons in the Philippines that have laid the foundations for a long-term humanitarian crisis, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Citing humanitarian assessments, IFRC said that the recent typhoons in the Philippines shattered the already precarious livelihoods of more than 200,000 farmers and fisherfolk.

The IFRC is the world’s largest humanitarian network, comprising 192 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies working to save lives and promote dignity around the world.

It noted that the social and economic consequences of destroyed homes will reverberate across these rural and fishing communities for months or even years to come. “Millions of people affected by these typhoons already faced huge social and economic hardships due to COVID-19 restrictions,” IFRC added.

IFRC noted that the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) continues to rescue and send relief teams across the region to support hard-pressed local volunteer teams and strained local government relief efforts. “The same teams are now turning to the massive task of providing basic services like water and psycho-social support to traumatized populations, and helping to rebuild and reestablish lost livelihoods,” IFRC said.
PRC chairman and chief executive officer Sen. Richard Gordon said that while the huge back-to-back storms have passed for now, “we have growing concerns for those hundreds of thousands of families who have lost their homes and livelihoods and are now facing the very hard realities of picking up the pieces.”

Gordon added that millions of lives remain at stake. “So it’s critical we redouble our efforts to support these families as they rebuild their homes and reestablish livelihoods,” he added.

With the support of the IFRC, the PRC teams have been providing emergency shelter, food, clean water, and essential household items to displaced families.

Meanwhile, the IFRC has revised its international Emergency Appeal upwards to 10.8 million Swiss Francs to support at least 120,000 people whose lives were turned upside down, and face the daunting task of rebuilding homes and livelihoods destroyed by recent typhoons and associated floods.

“More than 1.15 million Swiss Francs has already been released from the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to provide emergency relief and immediate support for typhoon and flood-affected communities,” IFRC said.

IFRC Philippine Country Office Head Robert Kaufman noted that the growing humanitarian crisis caused by non-stop climate-related disasters.

“People have had no time to recover from one shock before the next one is upon them,” he said. “It is tragic to see people who are ready to rebuild their lives facing set back after set back,” he added.

Kaufman added the “enormity is driven home when you visit these communities and meet the women, men, and children confronting the impact of climate change on a daily basis.”

These people, Kaufman noted, are not “numbers or statistics, but people trying to put roofs on their homes, cook a meal for their family and who want to send children to school, but instead have to deal with the growing frequency and severity of horrible storms.”

Kaufman stressed that at this time, it is vital that the international community bring resources to bear where they are needed. “Right now, we need to support these people as they struggle with lives torn apart by multiple storms on top of the relentless toll of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he ended.