Samar and Leyte after TS Urduja

Situation Report # 1

21 December 2017

CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY

• On 12 December 2017, a low pressure area formed east of Mindanao into a tropical depression.
• Intensifying into a tropical storm, Urduja (International code name Kai-Tak) made landfall on 16 December over the province of San Policarpio, Eastern Samar.
• Because it was slow-moving, remaining almost stationary over Northern Samar, TS Urduja’s rainbands caused heavy flooding and landslides in Eastern Visayas.
• As of 19 December, the NDDRMC reported over a hundred thousand evacuees in Samar, Leyte and Biliran.
• Total casualties recorded are 31 dead and 49 missing. Twenty-three of the fatalities were from Biliran, 5 from Leyte, 2 from Samar and 1 from Eastern Samar.
• Among the cities that declared a State of Calamity include Tacloban City, Ormoc City, Kananga, and Biliran.

CURRENT SITUATION 

In a report by a composite team from #CDRC and regional center Leyte Center for Development Inc., most of the LGUs in Eastern Samar were able to respond immediately by conducting pre-emptive evacuation. In Leyte, the municipality of Kananga and Ormoc City were badly hit but because of good LGU response, most people were out of the evacuation centers by 16^th and 17^th of December. There is no significant or major damage to roads and public infrastructure. Landslides that blocked the national roads were cleared by the 17^th, allowing relief operations by both public and private sectors to proceed.

Eastern Samar posted a total of 30,578 affected families, with 9,342 evacuated. However, electricity was still down and there is widespread water shortage. Though residential houses weren’t heavily damaged, the province is expected to reel from the impacts of the typhoon to the livelihood of the farming communities. Over 5,585 hectares of rice fields were washed out due to flooding. Of these, 2,785 hectares were newly-planted just last November. Among the most affected municipalities are:

1. Giporlos
2. Balangiga
3. Quinapondan
4. Oras
5. General Macarthur
6. Llorente

In General Mac Arthur, the water source/reservoir is heavily damaged and needs repair for water supply to return to normal. As of December 18, there are reports of 6 barangays submerged in 2-6 feet of water.  In Quinapondan, the residents have no access to clean drinking water.

In the municipality of Llorente, a landslide occurred, though no casualties were reported. A state of calamity was declared by the LGU.

In Mapanas, Northern Samar, 7 barangays were evacuated due to flooding, affected 314 families. A total of 1,591 evacuees were recorded.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE 

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) along with the Office of Civil Defense has responded along with the LGUs and MDRRMOs of the affected municipalities. Relief packs containing rice, cans of sardines, instant noodles, and coffee were distributed to families in evacuation centers.

In Quinapondan, the Rural Health Units established a community kitchen to immediately start cooking food for the affected families, especially those with young children.

#CARE Philippines, Citizens Disaster Response Center, and Leyte Center for Development, jointly conducted damage assessment and relief operations in Kananga and Ormoc City, Leyte. Meanwhile, CDRC partnered with #Mercy Relief to provide hot meals to affected families in Northern and Eastern Samar. Photos below are of the relief conducted in Mapanas, Northern Samar.

RELIEF REQUESTED 

According to the Damage, Needs, and Capacities Assessment (DNCA) conducted, the most needed by the affected communities are food and water, as listed in the table below:

Table 1. Requested Relief

Relief Type	Contents
Food packs	25 kg of rice, 1 kg dried fish, 1 kg salt, 1 kg sugar, 1 kg mung beans, 2 liters cooking oil, 6 cans of sardines, 6 cans of corned beef
Hygiene kits	1 pc bath soap, 1 pc laundry soap, 1 pack sanitary napkins, 250 ml toothpaste, 3 pcs toothbrush
Water	5-gallon water container
Others	Seeds and livelihood inputs (early recovery) Psychosocial debriefing

 

More information is being gathered from the field. This report will be updated as soon as new data is collected and collated. 

Data Sources:

1. DNCA by LCDE, CDRC
2. LGU DRRMOs

See PDF file SitRep_Urduja_12212017