Action Alert on Typhoon Haiyan  

November 20, 2013

Catholic Relief Services 

Catholic Relief Services teams arrived at the port in Ormoc (Leyte Island) on Sunday and were in Palo on Monday.  Travel has been extremely slow due to roads clogged with debris. Teams report a large percentage of homes are unlivable.  Trees and posts are uprooted and shops and other buildings destroyed. Communication with the Manila office only on a very limited basis through satellite phone with poor signal, as they have not reached any area with cell service yet.

Late Sunday the first information arrived from Samar Island and it is similarly as devastated as Tacloban City, a focus of media reporting.  Initial reports indicate that hundreds are confirmed dead so far and thousands are missing, according to a statement by a local official on 10 November.

Tarpaulins distributed by CRS are providing temporary shelter to thousands of Filipinos whose homes were destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan. Photo courtesy of Eoghan Rice - Trócaire/Caritas

Thousands of Filipinos are sleeping under a roof for the first time since Typhoon Haiyan struck 12 days ago thanks to Catholic Relief Services and its generous supporters. Specially designed tarps provide durable, low-cost, easy to build shelter until more permanent structures can be built.

• More than 10,000 tarps are now in country and being distributed. An additional 20,000 tarps are expected to arrive on Nov. 25 and 9,000 more tarps on Nov. 29.  This will complete CRS's planned 39,000 tarps for the acute emergency phase.
   
• The total number of displaced persons is now more than 4 million, with the number of total affected 10.1 million. The number of families inside 1,595 evacuation centers is nearly 90,000.

• The official death toll from NDRRMC stands at 3,982  and 1,602  are recorded as missing; NDRRMC reports on actual numbers recorded rather than estimates; these numbers can be expected to rise.

• A total of nearly 650,000 shelters are now reported as damaged, continuing the trend of significant increases daily as more data becomes available.  Of those 650,000 around 325,000 are destroyed.
  
  
• Cash-for-work community clean up and debris removal are also taking place with support from CRS.

Residents walk near vehicles and debris floating on a river after Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated Tacloban city in central Philippines November.                                                Photo by REUTERS/Erik De Castro courtesy of Trust.org

To donate $10 to help victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, please text RELIEF to 25383

Terms and Conditions: A one-time donation of $10.00 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. All donations must be authorized by the account holder. All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. User must be age 18 or older or have parental permission to participate. By texting YES, the user agrees to the terms and conditions. Service is available on most carriers. Message & Data Rates May Apply. Donations are collected for

the benefit of the "CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES" by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t. You can unsubscribe at any time by texting STOP to short code "25383"; text HELP to "25383" for help.

 Often times,  people are willing to donate more than $10 and this option is capped at $10.

P.O. Box 17090

Baltimore, MD 21297-0303

Write "Typhoon Haiyan" on the memo line

Residents walk on a road littered with debris after Super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines November 10. Photo by Reuters/Erik De Castro, courtesy Trust.org

• $8 provides a water kit for a family. This includes 1 jerry can, 1 pail and aqua tabs for water purification.
• $15 provides an emergency shelter kit. This includes tarps and nails that are combined with local materials to create emergency shelter.
• $22 provides household living supplies. This includes sleeping mats, blankets, utensils, plastics, glasses, and a cooking pot.
• $28 provides hygiene kits. This includes a two-month family supply of soap, laundry detergent, toothbrush, toothpaste, feminine sanitary napkins, and towels.

Note: Dollar amounts cover items only. They do not include costs associated with distribution, training and monitoring. For details on these emergency items click here. CRS will buy as many supplies as possible from suppliers within the Philippians to help the local economy.