United Nations Team Arrives in Micronesia to Support Typhoon Maysak Response

(Suva, 9 April 2015): A United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team today arrived in the Federated States of Micronesia to support the government’s response to Typhoon Maysak. The typhoon made landfall at Chuuk lagoon on Sunday 29 March and Ulithi Atoll, Yap, on 1 April, while neighboring islands within the two states also experienced damage from strong destructive winds.

The UNDAC team, comprising five disaster response experts, was deployed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Regional Office for the Pacific at the request of the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia. It will support the government and humanitarian partners as they continue to respond to communities on affected islands and atolls.

“We are pleased to support the Government of the Federated States of Micronesia in its response to this damaging typhoon, which has impacted many communities living in an area spanning hundreds of kilometres,” said Mr Sune Gudnitz, Head of OCHA’s Regional Office for the Pacific. “While the impact of Typhoon Maysak is low by world standards in terms of the total number of people affected, all needs are equally important and all suffering deserves to be eased.”

The UNDAC team will support the government and humanitarian partners, such as the International Organization for Migration and Micronesia Red Cross Society, in the delivery of food, safe drinking water, medical supplies, emergency shelter and temporary learning spaces to communities. The team will provide coordination and assessment support as well as data analysis and information management expertise.

“The typhoon destroyed homes, contaminated food and water sources, and damaged crops and infrastructure, including school buildings,” said Mr Gudnitz. “As those affected are highly reliant on subsistence farming, the damage to crops will significantly affect their ability to earn an income and grow food. The dispersed nature of the affected communities makes the humanitarian response particularly challenging.”

UNDAC is part of the international emergency response system for sudden-onset emergencies.
UNDAC was created in 1993 and was designed to help the United Nations and governments of disaster-affected countries during the first phase of a sudden-onset emergency by rapidly deploying international emergency management experts. UNDAC is a neutral, international asset, provided free of cost to support government-led disaster responses.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Dominic Leong, OCHA Regional Office for the Pacific (ROP), leongd@un.org, Mobile: +1 917 209 6964

OCHA Regional Office for the Pacific press releases are available at www.unocha.org/rop or www.reliefweb.int.