Philippines: Save the Children prepares for Typhoon Maysak
Manila, Philippines – Typhoon Maysak (local name: Typhoon Chedeng) was last located at 1,410 kilometer east of Philippines carrying wind speeds of 175kph. Typhoon Maysak is due to make landfall in the Philippines at the weekend, while most people in the country are enjoying the Easter holidays.
Despite the storm being outside of the usual storm season, communities are preparing for the impact. The national government has already issued a statement for local officials in the eastern part of Visayas and southern part of Luzon to prepare for the weather disturbance and initiate pre-emptive evacuation of families in low-lying areas and mountainous areas if situation warrants.
Save the Children is closely monitoring the development of the situation, and is now working on the necessary preparations for a possible emergency response. It still cannot be determined where Typhoon Maysak will make landfall, although early reports suggest that the province of Aurora at the North East of Manila may bear the brunt of the storm.
Save the Children has emergency supplies in place to get to those affected, if necessary. It has three main warehouses across the country—one in Luzon, one in Visayas and one in Mindanao—that are stocked with emergency relief items such as tarpaulins that can serve as emergency shelter, basic household items, hygiene items and water kits good for 10,000 families.
Ned Olney, Country Director of Save the Children Philippines says, “This isn't typhoon season, and Save the Children is concerned about the millions of people that will be traveling this weekend to spend time with family at Easter. It's still too early to know what this storm will do, but we would ask everyone to heed safety warnings and prepare as if this storm is going to be a big one. In this situation, you can never be too cautious. Save the Children is ready with staff and emergency supplies, if needed, to get to people as soon as possible, after the typhoon to lessen any impact Typhoon Maysak may have."
The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 typhoons a year, and upon entering the Philippine area of responsibility, Typhoon Maysak will be the third typhoon for this year.
Save the Children has been responding to emergencies in the Philippines since 2009. Some of its recent emergency responses include the Typhoon Haiyan emergency in November 2013 which affected more than 14 million people in Eastern Visayas, and the Typhoon Hagupit emergency which hit the same region in December 2014.
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Note to Editors: Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need working in over 120 countries. We aim to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.
Dedicated to helping children, Save the Children has worked in the Philippines for over three decades, providing both emergency and long-term support to improve the quality of life for children. For more information about Save the Children, you can e-mail our National Media Manager, April Sumaylo, at april.sumaylo@savethechildren.org or call her at +639173011240.
We have been responding to a number of emergencies across the country for the past few years. Save the Children, mounted large-scale emergency responses to Typhoon Washi (Sendong) in 2011, Typhoon Bopha (Pablo) and Manila floods in 2012. We are currently one of the largest responders in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which had killed at least 6000 people. We have also responded to typhoon (Hagupit) Ruby in December 2014.
Save the Children is currently implementing a disaster risk reduction project with other agencies in Aurora province aimed at enhancing the resilience of children, youth and their communities against unavoidable impacts of climate change.