CERF allocates $2.9 million to help victims of tropical storm Washi in the Philippines

Tropical Storm Washi made landfall on 16 December 2011on the north-eastern coast of Mindanao, Philippines. The storm affected 190 barangays (villages or wards), eight cities and 30 municipalities in thirteen Provinces across six Regions. The biggest impact was seen in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Region X in Northern Mindanao.

As of 20 December, the Government reported 957 people killed, 49 missing and 1,582 injured with an estimated 470,000 persons affected. Approximately 3,127 houses have been destroyed and a further 7,218 damaged, displacing 284,610 people. Of the displaced, 42,733 have sought refuge in 63 evacuation centres while the remaining displaced - numbering almost a quarter of a million people - have sought temporary shelter with relatives or in makeshift structures. The storm disrupted essential services including power, communications and transportation. There has also been extensive damage to local staple crops of rice and corn.

In response, the Central Emergency Response Fund allocated $2.9 million to two United Nations agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Philippines to respond to the emergency. The World Food Programme (WFP) received more than $1 million for emergency food assistance and support logistical operations in the aftermath of the storm. IOM received more than $1 million to provide emergency shelter assistance and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has received $980,000 to provide water and sanitation services to households and communities affected by the storm.

Update on 3 January 2012