Typhoon Bopha: EU donates €7 million to Philippines disaster

Brussels, 5-3-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — The European Union is increasing its emergency aid to the victims of Typhoon Bopha by €7 million, bringing the total humanitarian funding to €10 million since the region was struck by its force in December.

The money will be used to fund repairs to houses damaged by the typhoon, provide food assistance, help address high levels of malnutrition especially among children and support the improvement of basic health services in the affected provinces.

“The typhoon that struck the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in early December caused some of the worst damage since typhoon Ketsana in 2009” said the EU’s Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva. “Three months later, hundreds of thousands of survivors still face extremely difficult humanitarian conditions, which require an increase in support from the EU and other partners to address these urgent needs.”

Experts from the European Commission’s humanitarian aid service ECHO visited the typhoon zone last month. They discovered critical gaps in the relief effort, especially in the areas of shelter, nutrition, basic health care and income support.

Following Typhoon Bopha’s trail of destruction in early December, the region has been struck twice by strong storms. These caused further landslides and floods, forcing more people to abandon their homes.

Background

Typhoon Bopha, known locally as “Pablo”, made landfall on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on 4 December 2012. The storm affected the lives of more than 6 million people. This was the second major storm to hit Mindanao in as many years, after Typhoon Washi in December 2011 which killed over 1,500 people in northern Mindanao.

By the time the storm dissipated on 9 December more than a thousand people were reported killed and over 850 reported missing. According to the UN some 250,000 homes, public buildings and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Additionally thousands of acres of agricultural land have been devastated including large coconut and banana plantations, leaving hundreds of thousands without food or income.

Following the deployment of a team of the Commission’s humanitarian experts on 7 December 2012 ECHO provided €3 million to cover the immediate needs of 165,000 vulnerable people.

For more information

The European Commission’s humanitarian response in the Philippines:

http://ec.europa.eu/echo/aid/asia/philippines_en.htm

Commissioner Georgieva’s website:

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/georgieva/index_en.htm

The European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection:

http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm