Super Typhoon Mangkhut, which made landfall in the Philippines on Sept. 14., has killed 60 people and affected nearly one million others. Emergency specialists with Humanity & Inclusion are meeting with the victims of the disaster to identify their needs.
Florabel, 37, mother of two
"With my husband and two children, we heard that Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) was going to be very violent. The authorities advised us to leave our house and take refuge in one of the evacuation centers in the region. But because we weren't sure what to expect, we decided to stay home and barricade our house.
“When the typhoon hit, we all panicked. Our children were terrified. The wind was blowing very hard and the rain was pouring into the house. The next day, we saw the damage: half of our rice and maize crops had been destroyed just a month before harvest. We live off the land and don’t have much income. My husband borrowed money to buy fertilizer and seeds, so we have a loan to repay. We're scared now. How are we going to manage?"
Florabel and her family aren’t the only ones facing hardship in the province of Kalinga, where many people have lost their crops–their main source of income.
Today, HI’s emergency specialists travel to the Cordillera region with other humanitarian organizations to meet with victims, like Florabel, and help identify their needs. From there, they will prepare a possible emergency response.
Humanity & Inclusion in the Philippines
Present in the Philippines for more than 30 years, HI regularly works with people affected by natural disasters in the archipelago and launched a large-scale response to Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which affected more than 14 million people and claimed more than 6,000 lives. Three victims of Typhoon Haiyan recall how they coped with the tragedy. Learn more about our work in the Philippines.